Reviewed by USGSChile119y ago
M7.5 earthquake 50 km WNW of Diego de Almagro, Chile
Tuesday, June 8, 1909, 05:46:37 UTC · 26.154°S, 70.502°W
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck 50 km WNW of Diego de Almagro, Chile on Tuesday, June 8, 1909, 05:46:37 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.5
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 35 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
2.5 megatons of TNT
That is about 166 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 5,248 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
116 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and South American plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
35 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1 M5.0+ earthquake within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 14 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 10 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1859M7.6
Chile
5 Oct 1859 · 134 km away · intensity X
10 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1819M8.5
Copiapo
12 Apr 1819 · 137 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1819M8.0
Copiapo
4 Apr 1819 · 140 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1819M8.0
Copiapo
3 Apr 1819 · 140 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1796M7.7
Copiapo, Vallenar, Huasco, Coquimbo
30 Mar 1796 · 134 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1851M7.2
Copiapo
26 May 1851 · 134 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.