although some geologic estimates put it at 5.0. The earthquakes were centered on the Somersett community in western Reno near Mogul and Verdi. Many homes in these areas were damaged. The unique high desert geological features cause many to "Describe Nevada as a rockhound's paradise...access to millions of acres of government land allows geologist, miners and amateur rockhounds in Nevada to hunt to their hearts content... able to find agate, opal, jasper, fossils, fluorescent minerals, obsidian, chalcedony, wonders tone, malachite, petrified wood, limb cast, and much more means paradise." Climate Reno sits in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Annual rainfall averages . Reno features a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk) due to its low evapotranspiration stemming from its moderate annual average temperature and the concentration of precipitation in the cooler, less-sunny months. The city experiences cool to cold winters, and hot summers. Annual precipitation has ranged from in 1947 to in 2017. The most precipitation in one month was in January 1916 and the most precipitation in 24 hours was on January 28, 1903. At Reno–Tahoe International Airport, where records go back to 1937, the most precipitation in one month was in January 2017 and the most precipitation in 24 hours was on January 21, 1943. Winter snowfall is usually light to moderate, but can be heavy some days, averaging annually. Snowfall varies with the lowest amounts (roughly 19–23 inches annually) at the lowest part of the valley at and east of the airport at , while the foothills of the Carson Range to the west ranging from in elevation just a few miles west of downtown can receive two to three times as much annual snowfall. The mountains of the Virginia Range to the east can receive more summer thunderstorms and precipitation, and around twice as much annual snowfall above . However, snowfall increases in the Virginia Range are less dramatic as elevation climbs than in the Carson Range to the west, because the Virginia Range is well within the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada and Carson Range. The most snowfall in Reno in one winter was in 1915-1916, with an astonishing in January, the most in a calendar month, as well as on January 17, the most in a calendar day; the most snowfall in a calendar year was in 1916. At Reno–Tahoe International Airport, the most snowfall in one winter was in