Sinkhole risk in Storey County, NV: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 7%
At or near the surface: 7%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Storey County

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 19 of Storey County's 264 square miles on soluble rock, 19 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 4,112 residents (16 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 458 map points about 0.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Storey County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 472 miles east. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Carson City, NV 23 mi southwest · 2% at surface
Lyon County, NV 34 mi southeast · 9% at surface
Douglas County, NV 37 mi south · 13% at surface
Sierra County, CA 54 mi west · 0% at surface
Alpine County, CA 58 mi south · 0% at surface
Nevada County, CA 67 mi west · 0% at surface

What Storey County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Tuffaceous sedimentary rocks (sandstone), Late Eocene to Late Miocene in age, covering about 7% of the county.

Against the rest of Nevada

Storey County ranks 13 of 17 in Nevada for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 65% of US counties on that measure.