A magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck north of Cabazon on Sunday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed, with shaking reported at least as far east as Palm Springs. The quake hit at 8:44 a.m., with its epicenter located approximately 6 miles north-northeast of Cabazon at a depth of around 8 miles.
No immediate reports of damage or injuries emerged in the hours following the tremor. Residents across the Coachella Valley who felt the shaking were encouraged to submit reports through the USGS Felt Report form, which helps scientists better understand how widely a quake was experienced and how strongly it registered at various distances from the epicenter.
What causes earthquakes in Southern California
California sits atop one of the most seismically active landscapes in the world, a product of the geological forces constantly reshaping the region beneath the surface. The Earth’s outer layer, known as the lithosphere, is divided into large segments called tectonic plates that move slowly and continuously. When two of these plates slide past, push against, or pull away from one another, stress accumulates along their edges.
That stress eventually becomes too great to hold. When it releases, it sends seismic energy outward in waves that travel through the ground and produce the shaking people feel on the surface. The location where that energy releases is called the fault, and Southern California is crisscrossed by dozens of them.
Predicting the next big one remains impossible
Scientists at the USGS are able to calculate the probability that a significant earthquake will occur in a given region over a certain stretch of time, but they cannot predict when or where the next quake will strike with any precision. Those probability estimates are comparable to long-range weather forecasts rather than specific predictions…