Quake, rock slides briefly close major Eastern Sierra highway in Mono County

Multiple rock slides hit a stretch of Highway 395 Thursday after a magnitude-6.0 earthquake struck Mono County, Caltrans said.

At approximately 4 p.m. Caltrans received a report that multiple rock slides hit a stretch of Highway 395 close to the California-Nevada border, said Christopher Andriessen, a spokesperson for Caltrans’ District 9 in Bishop.

The Mono County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post that the earthquake, which was accompanied by more than 30 aftershocks, caused a rock slide at Chris Flat in the Walker Canyon. There were no other reports of significant damage, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Andriessen told The Bee he could not confirm the earthquake caused the rock slide, but he did say the rock slide came soon after.

The highway was closed for about an hour along a 40-mile stretch from Bridgeport to the Nevada state line, Andriessen said. He added that crews would remain at the scene in case of damage from continuing aftershocks.

Ingrid Braun, the Mono County sheriff, confirmed that a rock slide hit the major thoroughfare — which runs 1,300 miles in all from Hesperia to the Canadian border — in Walker Canyon, a popular trail head along the corridor

“There are rocks all over Walker Canyon,” she said.

She said Walker Canyon is a remote area with a few campgrounds. She isn’t aware of any injuries reported in the area.

Andriessen said that this is an area with little to no cell phone reception, so the agency can’t be in direct touch with crews that are on the ground cleaning the rocks from the road.

This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Quake, rock slides briefly close major Eastern Sierra highway in Mono County."