M 6.0 - The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake

The earthquake probably was caused by displacement on the Mission Creek fault, one of the major branches of the San Andreas fault system in southern California. The highest intensities in the area were reported in the upper Coachella Valley from Thousand Palms to White Water, which also was the most densely populated area near the epicenter.

Considerable structural damage and slight cracks in the ground were observed in Desert Hot Springs. Some minor structural damage also occurred at Palm Springs. At Willis Palms, cracks formed in the ground and cliffs, riverbanks slumped, and springs increased in flow. Landslides and cracks in the ground were reported in the Indio Hills. It was felt throughout southern California and at a few towns in western Arizona, southwestern Nevada, and northern Baja California. About 72 aftershocks were accurately located in a zone 18 km long, parallel to (but 5 km north of) the trace of the Mission Creek fault. (Ref. 21, 259, 292, 381, 548.)

Maximum observed Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) VII

Abridged from Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), by Carl W. Stover and Jerry L. Coffman, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1993.

Several people were injured at the Plaza Theater in Palm Springs when loose glass plates fell from chandeliers, and a person fainted in a department store in Riverside. In addition to the damage in the epicentral area, slight damage (cracked plaster and walls, broken glass, etc.) occurred in the Los Angeles area, in Orange County and as far west as Oxnard. Water mains broke on the UCLA campus and at San Diego, and an old school building was condemned at Palm City, near San Diego. Fortunately, despite the widespread damage, no people were killed.

Abridged from Areas damaged by California earthquakes, 1900-1949, by T.R. Toppozada and D.L. Parke, California Division of Mines and Geology Open-File Report 82-17, Sacramento: 1982; updated and presented by interactive map on California Geological Survey website (http://maps.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/historicearthquakes/).