The 1948 Desert Hot Springs earthquake occurred on December 4 at 3:43 p.m. Pacific Standard Time with a moment magnitude of 6.4 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong).

Following the war, work resumed at the Caltech and Berkeley labs detecting local earthquakes to determine the location of active faults.

By 1948, seismologist Charles Richter had determined that areas where small earthquakes were occurring did not necessarily mean that a stronger shock would take place at the same location in the future.

The convoluted nature of fault strands make estimating the source characteristics of future events in that area challenging.

[2] A lack of surface ruptures from this predominantly strike-slip event is one element that contributed to preventing researchers from identifying the causative fault.

The presence of shattered ground (very loose topsoil that appeared to have been "loosened by a shaking table") indicated to researchers that it probably originated in the hanging wall block between the Banning and Mission Creek Faults.

A few injuries, some serious, occurred at the Palm Springs Theater during the rush to evacuate the building, and another man was injured by falling merchandise and required hospitalization.