An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 rattled the California-Nevada border on Thursday afternoon, with people reporting feeling the shaking hundreds of kilometres away, according to the US Geological Survey.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The earthquake struck at 3.49pm in a region about 402km east of San Francisco and south of Lake Tahoe. Its epicentre was 32km southwest of Smith Valley, Nevada. It was followed by a dozen aftershocks, with at least one with a 4.6 magnitude, the USGS said.
Sally Rosen, who owns a popular burger restaurant in Walker, near the epicentre, said her 2-year-old was napping in her arms in her home behind the restaurant when the earthquake hit.
"We felt the shaking of the building, and we didn't know quite what it was at first," she told KGO-TV in San Francisco. "It kept going, and it was pretty intense and scary, frankly. So we ran out of the house as fast as we could and ran to the restaurant because the first thought was, 'Oh my goodness, we need to shut off the gas.' "
She said cups and other items flew off the shelves, and oil splattered from the fryers.
Communities all around Lake Tahoe and as far south as Fresno, California, felt the earthquake, which had a depth of 9.8km.
US 395, a major route through the northern Sierra Nevada, was closed because of rock slides, the state Department of Transportation said. The closure stretched about 64km from near the town of Willow Springs to Nevada border.
"While there are no preliminary reports of damage or injuries, this is a rapidly evolving situation & more details will emerge in the coming hours." California's Office of Emergency Services tweeted. "We are working closely with local officials to ensure they have the resources and support to rapidly respond to these earthquakes."