The earthquake was a right-lateral strike-slip event, and involved the rupture of several different faults over a length of 75 to 85 km (47 to 53 mi).

Unlike the 1994 Northridge earthquake nineteen and a half months later, no freeway bridges collapsed because of the epicenter's remote location.

[2] The quake was preceded by the 6.1 magnitude Joshua Tree earthquake at 4:51 on April 23, 1992 (UTC), which was south of the future Landers epicenter.

[9][10] The 6.5 magnitude Big Bear earthquake, which hit about three hours after the Landers mainshock, was originally considered an aftershock.

[11] The magnitude 5.7 Little Skull Mountain (LSM) earthquake the following day, June 29, 1992, at 10:14 UTC near Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is also considered part of the regional sequence and may have been triggered by surface wave energy produced by the Landers earthquake.

[13] The earthquake is featured in the television documentary series produced by GRB Entertainment, aired on The Learning Channel and other television channels around the world, about natural disasters titled Earth's Fury (also known internationally as Anatomy of Disaster) in an episode entitled "Earthquake!