Several parts of California were rattled by earthquakes over the past few days.
A 2.5-magnitude earthquake occurred near Searles Valley in San Bernardino County early morning on May 14, 2026, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The epicenter was located around 20 kilometers from Searles Valley in Southern California, at a depth of roughly 2.6 kilometers. The earthquake struck at around 3:51 a.m.
The tremor was fairly minor, with only one person reporting having experienced it on the USGS’s ‘Did You Feel It?’ reporting system.
The earthquake was felt near Argus Range Wilderness in the neighboring Inyo County.
USGS classified the quake as Level I intensity, which indicates no noticeable shaking or damage.
Later in the day, another minor earthquake jolted areas in Northern California.
A 2.8-magnitude earthquake was reported near Cobb in Lake County at 10:09 p.m. on May 14, according to the USGS.
The epicenter was located about 4 kilometers from Cobb, at a depth of 2.2 kilometers.
Similar to the quake near Searles Valley, the earthquake near Cobb was minor, with only one person reporting that they experienced it on the USGS’s ‘Did You Feel It?’ system.
The earthquake was felt near Castle Rock Springs, located roughly 5 kilometers from the epicenter.
USGS categorized the seismic event as Level II intensity, which indicates weak shaking and no damage.
There were no reports of casualties or damage from any of the earthquakes.
Why Does California Frequently Experience Earthquakes?
Earthquakes like the ones that occurred on Thursday are common across California.
The state experiences frequent earthquakes because it sits on the boundary of two massive tectonic plates, the Pacific and the North American plates, that are constantly moving.
In Southern California, earthquakes are primarily caused by the tectonic movement of the Pacific plate (on the west) relative to the North American plate (on the east), according to the USGS.
The main plate-boundary fault is the San Andreas Fault, which spans roughly 1,200 kilometers, crossing through the largest mountain range in Southern California.
Southern California also has small pockets of volcanic and geothermal activity, where hot fluid or magma moves through the crust, causing local stresses and fracture movement. As a result, these areas frequently experience seismic swarms, which are clusters of earthquakes without a clear mainshock.
Earlier this month, Southern California experienced a seismic swarm, with many seismic events centered around Brawley in Imperial County. The strongest quake was a 4.7-magnitude quake that struck on May 10, around 3 kilometers from Brawley.
In Northern California, there are active faults, such as the Hayward and the Calaveras faults, which are part of the larger San Andreas Fault system.
Other parts of Northern California, such as The Geysers, have high geothermal activity, which results in frequent but small earthquakes due to steam production and fluid injection.
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