NEW YORK, July 4 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 jolted 12 km southwest of Searles Valley in the U.S. state of California 17:33:48 GMT on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 8.68 km, was initially determined to be at 35.70 degrees north latitude and 117.51 degrees west longitude.