A shake alert went out over the U.S. Geological Survey's early warning system on Dec. 4, warning that a 5.9 earthquake near Carson City in western Nevada could produce heavy shaking in the region.

An alert that Nevada had been rocked by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake early Thursday sent phones buzzing briefly before the U.S. Geological Survey quickly deleted the warning from its web page and said i...

The Shake Alert Chief Scientist says it appears the data originated from five sensors in the area, and now scientists are examining whether an algorithm error might be to blame.