These faults are part of a twin system of normal faults that run along the base of two parallel mountain ranges; the Sierra Nevada on the west and the Inyo Mountains on the east of the Owens Valley, and formed fault scarps from north of Big Pine, 55 miles (89 km) north of Lone Pine, to Haiwee Reservoir (30 miles (48 km)) south of Lone Pine.

The earthquake occurred on a Tuesday morning and leveled almost all the buildings in Lone Pine and nearby settlements.

About 130 kilometers (81 mi) south of Lone Pine, at Indian Wells, adobe houses sustained cracks.

This earthquake stopped clocks and awakened people in San Diego to the south, Red Bluff, to the north, and Elko, Nevada, to the east.

[citation needed] Researchers later estimated that similar earthquakes occur on the Lone Pine fault every 3,000–4,000 years.