[9] The Hector Mine earthquake is thought to be an example of increased fault stress from a separate quake which built over seven years until finally rupturing in 1999.

These foreshocks progressed northward 20 hours before the mainshock, and occurred in the same location as a cluster of off-fault aftershocks of the 1992 Landers earthquake.

[11] This strike-slip earthquake occurred in a remote part of the Mojave Desert, 47 miles (76 km) east-southeast of Barstow, California, inside the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base.

[14] The event was named after a nearby quarry in the Mojave Desert, located 22 kilometers (14 mi) northwest of the epicenter.

[10] Despite its size, it did not cause nearly as much damage compared to the smaller magnitude 6.7 1994 Northridge earthquake due to its remote location from populated areas.

The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, located in the Mojave Desert, contained the surface rupture of the Hector Mine earthquake.

[15] The biggest report of damage was a derailed westbound Amtrak Southwest Chief train which left rails split up and a total of twenty-one cars completely off the track.

[14] Despite the large magnitude, damage to the area was limited due to the affected region being mostly desert and very sparsely populated.

[14] An examination of deformation following the earthquake reported horizontal and vertical motion of several millimeters on multiple faults in the vicinity.