Android: HttpUrlConnection object returns error 301 after connection

I'm trying to connect to a web API using a URL. However, I get a 301 error from the server (Moved Permanently), although the provided URL works very well with no errors when I try it in my browser.

Here is the code that builds the URL:

 public Loader<List<Earthquake>> onCreateLoader(int i, Bundle bundle) {

        SharedPreferences sharedPrefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
        String minMagnitude = sharedPrefs.getString(
                getString(R.string.settings_min_magnitude_key),
                getString(R.string.settings_min_magnitude_default));

        String orderBy = sharedPrefs.getString(
                getString(R.string.settings_order_by_key),
                getString(R.string.settings_order_by_default)
        );

        Uri baseUri = Uri.parse(USGS_REQUEST_URL);
        Uri.Builder uriBuilder = baseUri.buildUpon();

        uriBuilder.appendQueryParameter("format", "geojson");
        uriBuilder.appendQueryParameter("limit", "10");
        uriBuilder.appendQueryParameter("minmag", minMagnitude);
        uriBuilder.appendQueryParameter("orderby", orderBy);
        Log.i ("the uri is ", uriBuilder.toString());
        return new EarthquakeLoader(this, uriBuilder.toString());
    }

Here is the code that tries to connect to the resource represented by the URL:

private static String makeHttpRequest(URL url) throws IOException {
        String jsonResponse = "";

        // If the URL is null, then return early.
        if (url == null) {
            return jsonResponse;
        }
        Log.i("The received url  is " , url +"");
        HttpURLConnection urlConnection = null;
        InputStream inputStream = null;
        try {
            urlConnection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
            urlConnection.setReadTimeout(10000 /* milliseconds */);
            urlConnection.setConnectTimeout(15000 /* milliseconds */);
            urlConnection.setRequestMethod("GET");
            urlConnection.connect();

            // If the request was successful (response code 200),
            // then read the input stream and parse the response.
            if (urlConnection.getResponseCode() == 200) {
                inputStream = urlConnection.getInputStream();
                jsonResponse = readFromStream(inputStream);
            } else {
                Log.e(LOG_TAG, "Error response code: " + urlConnection.getResponseCode()); //this log returns 301
            }
        } catch (IOException e) {
            Log.e(LOG_TAG, "Problem retrieving the earthquake JSON results.", e);
        } finally {
            if (urlConnection != null) {
                urlConnection.disconnect();
            }
            if (inputStream != null) {
                // Closing the input stream could throw an IOException, which is why
                // the makeHttpRequest(URL url) method signature specifies than an IOException
                // could be thrown.
                inputStream.close();
            }
        }
        return jsonResponse;
    }

I could know that the connection returns status code of 301 from the log provided in the case when the status code is not 200. I have also logged the generated URL, I copied it from the logcat and tried it in my browser and it worked well. Here is the built URL: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/query?format=geojson&limit=10&minmag=6&orderby=magnitude

I checked this question: Android HttpURLConnection receives HTTP 301 response code but it wasn't clear to me what is the solution for the problem.

Can you please help me identify and solve the problem?

UPDATE: As greenapps indicated in his comment, the connection is done through https. That comment identified the problem and helped me fix the code.

In my code, the string I used to build the basic URL, had the protocol value as http not https, it was:

private static final String USGS_REQUEST_URL =
            "http://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/query";

After reading greenapps comment, I just changed the protocol part in the string to https, so it became:

 private static final String USGS_REQUEST_URL =
            "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/query"; 

That solved the problem.

Thanks.

If you click your http link here you will see that the browser shows a https page. You better use that url directly as there is redirection now.