SAN DIEGO — Music fans staying, camping and jamming in the Coachella Valley may have been affected when a mild 3.8 magnitude earthquake struck the area Saturday morning.
The quake struck at 9:08 a.m. north of Borrego Springs, a desert town in San Diego County about 60 miles south of the Empire Polo Club in Indio, home of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, according to U.S. Geological Survey information.
The earthquake, despite its small size, was felt in a large area of Southern California, an area inhabited by more than 20 million people. USGS data shows residents reported feeling weaker shaking in locations on the U.S.-Mexico border, near the southern Orange County coast and in the vast desert.
The US Geological Survey said the quake occurred at a depth of about 7 miles below the surface.
It was not clear whether the quake was triggered by a specific fault, but it was not far from the West's most fearsome fault, the San Andreas Fault, which runs through the middle of the Coachella Valley on its way to the Salton Sea lowlands.
Borrego Springs is located about 60 miles southwest of the fault.
No injuries or damage were reported. The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services and the Sheriff's Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At Coachella, where the Orange County band There was no doubt about the long-awaited performance reunion Saturday night, there didn't seem to be much concern.
Some music fans on social media used the occasion to castigate the power and reach of their favorite Saturday night headliners, including Tyler, the Creator.
The organizers did not mention the earthquake on the official Coachella account on the social media platform X.
Instead, on Saturday morning Promote They were “building energy for day two” from the festival's first two weekend lineups.
. “Professional creator. Lifelong thinker. Reader. Beer buff. Troublemaker. Evil problem solver.”