Cahuilla, California facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cahuilla
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 Cahuilla
Location in California
Cahuilla
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States, part of the Cahuilla Reservation |
| State | California |
| County | Riverside County |
| Elevation | 1,110 m (3,642 ft) |
Cahuilla, pronounced (kuh-WEE-uh), is a small community in Riverside County, California. It's not a city, but an "unincorporated community," meaning it's not officially part of a town. Cahuilla is located in a high desert valley, about 3,642 feet (1,110 meters) above sea level.
You can find Cahuilla about 27 miles (43 km) south of Idyllwild, which is a mile-high town. It's also on SR 371, just 4 miles (6 km) west of Anza, California. Cahuilla is part of the Cahuilla Reservation, which is land belonging to the Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians of the Cahuilla Reservation.
A Look Back at Cahuilla's Post Office
Cahuilla once had its own post office! It first opened in 1888. Over the years, it moved a few times and even closed and reopened several times. Finally, in 1926, it closed for good. After that, people in Cahuilla started using the post office in nearby Anza. Even today, places in Cahuilla use Anza, CA, as their postal address.
What Can You Find in Cahuilla?
Even though it's a small community, Cahuilla has some interesting places. The Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians of the Cahuilla Reservation owns and operates two main facilities:
- Cahuilla Casino: This casino first opened in 1996. A brand new casino and hotel replaced the old one in May 2020.
- Mountain Sky Travel Center: This is a convenience store and gas station that opened in 2015. It's a handy stop for travelers.
Both of these places are located in Cahuilla, right on Highway 371.
Why Did Cahuilla Have So Many Earthquakes?
From 2016 to 2019, Cahuilla became well-known because of a special type of earthquake activity called an "earthquake swarm." This means many earthquakes happened in the same area over a long period, instead of just one big quake.
- Thousands of Quakes: More than 22,000 individual earthquakes were recorded! These quakes ranged from very small (magnitude 0.7) to a stronger one (magnitude 4.4).
- The Strongest Quake: The biggest earthquake in this swarm happened in August 2018. It was located south of Lake Riverside, near Cahuilla Road.
- What Scientists Learned: Researchers used computers to study these quakes. They discovered that the earthquakes were happening along a specific crack in the Earth's crust, called a "fault zone." This fault zone was about 50 meters (164 feet) wide and 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) long.
- Underground Water: Scientists found that deep underground, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) below the surface, there was a hidden pool of fluid (like water) under pressure. In early 2016, this fluid started to push its way up into the fault zone. As the fluid moved through the cracks, it made the fault slippery, causing the many small earthquakes. This "fluid injection" continued until late 2019, which is why the earthquake swarm lasted so long.
This event helped scientists understand more about how fluids deep inside the Earth can trigger earthquakes.
