psn-l@..............

..c The Associated Press

  
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Two strong earthquakes jolted the remote Nevada desert on 
Sunday, shaking Las Vegas casinos miles away and prompting telephone calls 
from worried tourists and residents. 

No damage was reported. 

A magnitude-6.2 quake near the California-Nevada border struck at 9:06 a.m., 
followed 21 minutes later by a magnitude-5.2 shaker, said Pat Jorgenson of 
the U.S. Geological Survey. 

``That's two pretty strong shakers. Maybe a few things would have fallen off 
shelves,'' Jorgenson said. 

The quakes were centered in Nevada east of Death Valley National Park near 
Scotty's Castle, about 200 miles northeast of Los Angeles and 50 miles 
northwest of Las Vegas, Jorgenson said. 

It wasn't known on which fault the quakes were centered, she said. 

Several Las Vegas high-rise hotels reported calls from guests wondering what 
was happening. 

A security guard at the Stratosphere Hotel and Tower, who asked that his name 
not be used, said that several people called, including an employee at the 
top of the 1,149-foot tower who reported ``a little vibration.'' 

Employees at the Las Vegas Hilton and the Mirage also reported guests calling 
to ask about the movement, but said the resort sustained no damage and no 
injuries to any guests or employees. 

Clark County Aviation Director Randy Walker said employees in the control 
tower at McCarran International Airport felt movement at the time of the 
quake but nothing was shut down. ``It wasn't something people got overly 
concerned about,'' Walker said. 

A Las Vegas Metropolitan police dispatcher who requested anonymity said 
dispatchers had received ``quite a few calls'' but no reports of damage or 
injuries. 

``The callers were just trying to figure out what had happened,'' the 
dispatcher said. ``They reported things shaking and plants swinging.'' 

AP-NY-08-01-99 1335EDT

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