Reviewed by USGSChile99y ago
M6.1 earthquake 17 km S of Constitución, Chile
Tuesday, May 1, 1928, 00:11:27 UTC · 35.488°S, 72.399°W
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 17 km S of Constitución, Chile on Tuesday, May 1, 1928, 00:11:27 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on September 6, 1926.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- 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
19 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 40 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
129 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 10 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.7103 km NW of Constitución, ChileJanuary 30, 1914 · 116 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.019 km SW of Angol, ChileAugust 20, 1920 · 273 km S of this epicenter
- 6.599 km SE of Rengo, ChileJanuary 30, 1914 · 227 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3210 km WNW of Constitución, ChileSeptember 6, 1926 · 218 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.1187 km NW of Constitución, ChileMay 21, 1922 · 201 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.022 km S of Constitución, ChileAugust 11, 1925 · 6 km S of this epicenter
- 5.8170 km NW of Constitución, ChileSeptember 6, 1926 · 183 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.8151 km WNW of Constitución, ChileDecember 3, 1926 · 158 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 23 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,475 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 279 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1928M7.6
Talca, Chillan, Santiago, San Fernando
1 Dec 1928 · 65 km away · intensity IX
279 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1822M8.5
Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua
20 Nov 1822 · 279 km away · intensity XI
72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1751M8.5
Concepcion, Chillan, Talca, Tutuben, Curico
25 May 1751 · 164 km away · intensity XI
65 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1835M8.2
Concepcion
20 Feb 1835 · 160 km away · intensity XI
53 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1898M6.5
Concepcion
23 Jul 1898 · 160 km away · intensity VIII
6 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.