Quakes rattle Yucca debate Both sides using temblors to support their arguments

Pahrump man likely quake casualty

WASHINGTON — Recent California tremors that rattled Las Vegas were seized upon Tuesday by proponents and opponents of a federal plan to store nuclear waste in a seismic zone in Southern Nevada that includes Yucca Mountain.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-wyo., said his legislation to jumpstart the process to open Yuc

The Nye County Sheriff ’s Office said Tuesday night that a man died in Pahrump possibly as a result of the July 4 earthquake that rocked the Mojave Desert.

Deputies were called about 1 p.m. Tuesday to the area of Becky Lane and East Fort Churchill Road on a report of a man pinned beneath a vehicle, according to a Sheriff ’s Office video release. They found the man, 56, pinned under a red, rusted Jeep that was resting on car jacks.

“Based on preliminary timing and circumstances

at the scene, the Nye County Sheriff ’s investigation reveals that this death may be the result of the vehicle falling off of the jacks on July 4 during the earthquake,” Sgt. Adam Tippetts said in the release.

The man was last seen alive on July 3 at a gas station, and it appeared he had been working on the vehicle at the time of his death, Tippetts said.

If deputies’ theory proves true, his death may be the first fatality as a result of last week’s earthquakes.

“As far as we know, it is,” Nye County Lt. David Boruchowitz said Tuesday night, “or it would be if we could confirm that.”

Tippetts said the Sheriff ’s Office was withholding the man’s identity pending notification of his next of kin.

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake first struck the Mojave Desert on Thursday near the town of Ridgecrest, California, about a 240-mile drive from Las Vegas.

Several aftershocks soon followed, and a 7.1 magnitude quake rocked the same area on Friday night.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.