Another series of moderate earthquakes rumbled beneath the deserts of northern Nevada and south central Oregon on Wednesday evening.

The strongest, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and the Nevada Seismology Laboratory, was a magnitude 4.6 temblor at 6:52 p.m. It was centered 40 miles southeast of Lakeview, Oregon. That quake -- one of five to shake the area between 6 and 11 p.m. -- occurred 6 miles underground.

At least 5 people took the time to say they felt the shaking on the USGS "Did you feel it?" website, but no damage or injuries were reported.

The quakes are occurring in an area of north Washoe County in Nevada that's not only remote, but also contains a sparse network of automated monitors.

Those add to the difficulty of tracking seismic activity, Dr. Ken Smith of the Nevada Seismology Laboratory said.

Smith and his colleagues have been tracking the swarm of quakes in this area for the past year.

He said the Great Basin area where the swarm is occurring is crisscrossed by fault lines.

According to the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, Nevada is "one of the most seismically active regions in the United States. Along with California and

Alaska, Nevada ranks in the top three states subject to the most large earthquakes over the last 150 years."

-- Stuart Tomlinson

stomlinson@oregonian.com

503-221-8313

@ORweather