Photo: USGS
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was reported in California on Wednesday (January 21), according to the United States Geological Survey.
The earthquake was recorded at 12:30 p.m. local time and centered at 20 kilometers (about 12.4 miles) north-northeast of Indio at a depth of 4.2 kilometers (about 2.6 miles). The USGS said it received 1,102 reports of people having felt the earthquake at the time of publication on Wednesday.
There is currently no tsunami threat in effect. The 4.2-magnitude earthquake was reported hours after a 4.9-magnitude earthquake was reported in the same city on Monday (January 19) and among 30 in the past 24 hours; 99 in the past seven days; 135 in the past 30 days; and 751 in the past 365 days, according to EarthquakeTrack.com.
The state of California is reported to have had 42 earthquake measuring 1.5-magnitude or greater in the past 24 hours; 271 in the past seven days; 772 in the last 30 days; and 7,673 in past 365 days, according to EarthquakeTrack.com. Earthquakes measured between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude can be felt by a large population, however, rarely results in much damage, according to Michigan Tech via the Sacramento Bee.
An estimated 500,000 detectable earthquakes are reported worldwide annually, however, around 100,000 are felt and only 100 typically result in serious damage. Officials strongly advise that anyone caught in an earthquake should drop, cover and hold on, according to the Sacramento Bee.