Reviewed by USGSChile117y ago
M6.9 earthquake 36 km W of Copiapó, Chile
Tuesday, September 6, 1910, 20:03:01 UTC · 27.421°S, 70.699°W
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck 36 km W of Copiapó, Chile on Tuesday, September 6, 1910, 20:03:01 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.5 on June 8, 1909.
- Magnitude
- 6.9
- Strong · 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
315 kilotons of TNT
That is about 21 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 661 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
115 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 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 2 M5.0+ earthquakes 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 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 21 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1899
La Rioja
12 Apr 1899 · 264 km away · intensity VIII
11 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1859M7.6
Chile
5 Oct 1859 · 35 km away · intensity X
10 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1819M8.5
Copiapo
12 Apr 1819 · 92 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1819M8.0
Copiapo
4 Apr 1819 · 39 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1819M8.0
Copiapo
3 Apr 1819 · 39 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1796M7.7
Copiapo, Vallenar, Huasco, Coquimbo
30 Mar 1796 · 35 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.