Is this close to Victoria's site?

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A strong 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Nevada at dawn on Thursday, damaging buildings, rupturing water lines and knocking down power lines, officials reported.

The shaking 11 miles (17 km) east-southeast of the town of Wells sparked fires at the town's grocery and truck stores, and pipes broke, cutting off running water for a time, residents and officials said.

"The city of Wells has sustained major damage from an earthquake," said Bill Roach, Elko District dispatch manager, adding that authorities "are going house to house doing inspections and looking for injuries."

"There were a series of small fires; to my knowledge they have all been extinguished," Roach said.

That sparsely populated region of Nevada is known for the most prolific gold mining region in the Western hemisphere but there were no reports of disruption to the industry.

One woman was trapped in her garage by falling lumber for several hours but was not hurt, and no injuries were reported in the initial hours after the quake, officials said.

David Henson, administrator of the Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital in Elko, 50 miles (80 km) away from Wells said: "We have not had any patients show up, and we are the nearest hospital."

The historic main street dating back to the late 1800s suffered the most damage, although many of those buildings are no longer used, officials said. "The historic district is pretty much done for," said City Manager Jolene Supp. "The older buildings have suffered severe structural damage."

The quake struck at 6:16 a.m. PST (1416 GMT), with a shallow epicenter of 6.2 miles (10km) deep. A 6.0 earthquake can cause severe damage, particularly when so shallow.

GOLD MINING REGION

The area is known for its gold mining and includes Goldstrike, the largest producing mine of Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO: Quote, Profile, Research). Company spokesman Louis Schack said he had not heard of any effect on mining operations centered 90-100 miles (144-161 km) west of earthquake's epicenter.

A Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) spokesman said operations at its 45,000 barrel per-day Salt Lake City refinery were unaffected by the earthquake. Salt Lake City is 180 miles (290 km) east of Wells.

In Wells, Randy Bowers said he was working the overnight shift bartending at the town's 140-year-old brothel, Donna's Ranch, when he felt two powerful jolts and a third lighter one.

"The building is here, but everything else is demolished, everything inside is trashed," Bowers said by telephone.

"Stuff didn't fall off, it flew off," he added, noting that there were no customers in the brothel at the time and the "working girls were in their rooms."

Wells is town of about 1,300 people, 382 miles (614 km) north of the gambling center of Las Vegas. Wells' Chamber of Commerce touts the town as a "perfect setting" for western and road movies.

Residents further away from Wells said they also felt major shaking. "It lasted about 10-15 seconds," area resident Susan Shaw said by telephone. "I live about 20 miles (32 km) from Wells and it shook the whole house. It was scary but there was no major damage."

Shaw, who works at a hotel in Elko, around 45 miles (72.5 km) from Wells, said the sidewalks were cracked outside the hotel. (Writing by Adam Tanner; additional reporting by Mary Milliken and Peter Henderson in Los Angeles, Editing by Sandra Maler)