The swarm of mostly minor quakes began shortly after 1:30 a.m. Monday morning, ranging in strength from 2.6 to the largest one, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The most powerful temblor was measured at a magnitude 4.6, which struck at a depth of about six miles, located some 63 miles northwest of Palm Springs just before 2 a.m.
Such a cluster of relatively small quakes in that area isn't the first such occurrence, according to seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, who said it's the fourth such swarm since 2001.
Most foreshocks are very close (a few km) to their mainshock, so we think there is some increase in risk when quakes happen within 10 km of the San Andreas. 1 km away would be much riskier than 10. Today's quakes are ~12 km away. I am not cutting my vacation short.
— Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) August 10, 2020
The 4.6 quake was reportedly felt in the surrounding populated cities, including Thermal and Indio, but no there were no reports of injuries or damage.
