Fairview Peak (Churchill County, Nevada) facts for kids
Fairview Peak is a tall mountain peak located in the Clan Alpine Mountains in Nevada, a state in the United States. This peak stands at an elevation of about 8,271 feet (2,521 meters) above sea level.
The mountain was named "Fairview Peak" because it offers amazing views of the surrounding area. People also sometimes called it "Fairview Cairn" or "Fairview Mountain." A nearby ghost town called Fairview, Nevada also got its name from this impressive peak.
The Big Earthquakes of 1954
On December 16, 1954, two very strong earthquakes happened near Fairview Peak. These two quakes occurred just four minutes apart, making them an "earthquake doublet." They are often called the Dixie Valley/Fairview earthquakes.
Both earthquakes were extremely powerful. The first one had a magnitude of 7.3, and the second one was a magnitude 6.9. They both reached a Mercalli intensity of X, which means they caused Extreme shaking. The Mercalli intensity scale measures how much an earthquake is felt and how much damage it causes.
Even though the earthquakes were very strong, they caused only a little damage to buildings. This was because the area around Fairview Peak was not very populated back then.
The earthquakes caused large cracks and steps in the ground, known as fault scarps. These scarps formed because the ground moved along a fault line.
