California Earthquake 2026 explains what happened, where the quake was felt, aftershocks, risks, and how residents can prepare for future earthquakes.

A series of earthquakes, one considered significant, shook homes and property in the Coachella Valley on Monday and Tuesday.

Some of California’s biggest earthquakes have occurred on lesser-known fault areas, including both the Ridgecrest quake and the magnitude 6.7 Northridge quake in 1994. And in the Bay Area, geologists have identified the Hayward Fault in the East Bay and the Rodgers Creek Fault in Sonoma County as having the potential to produce major quakes.

In California, the ground doesn’t need much of a warning to remind people who’s really in control. The state carries the highest seismic risk in the United States, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the nation’s total earthquake threat.

A rapid-fire barrage of 16 earthquakes slammed Southern California in less than 24 hours, reigniting terrifying fears that the “Big One” is getting ready to tear the region apart.

UTC, 9km deep—felt Palm Springs, Riverside, San Diego. USGS details, no damage, safety tips amid trends., US News, Times Now

Californians were left fearing an earthquake had struck when they felt a sonic boom as NASA’s Crew-11 re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere aboard their SpaceX Dragon, which was returning early from a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) due to an urgent medical issue with one of the astronauts.