Reviewed by USGSChile109y ago
M6.4 earthquake 92 km N of Iquique, Chile
Saturday, August 17, 1918, 06:53:38 UTC · 19.379°S, 70.111°W
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 92 km N of Iquique, Chile on Saturday, August 17, 1918, 06:53:38 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.9 on August 25, 1916.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- 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
62 kilotons of TNT
That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 130 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
152 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and Altiplano 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 6 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.3136 km WSW of Challapata, BoliviaJune 6, 1915 · 221 km E of this epicenter
- 6.9119 km W of Iquique, ChileSeptember 15, 1911 · 152 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.925 km ENE of Arica, ChileAugust 30, 1906 · 114 km N of this epicenter
- 6.987 km NNW of Iquique, ChileDecember 26, 1906 · 55 km W of this epicenter
- 6.9181 km W of Iquique, ChileAugust 25, 1916 · 205 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.22 km S of Palca, PeruMay 5, 1906 · 176 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 32 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 28,085 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M8.5
Arica
13 Aug 1868 · 127 km away · intensity XI
25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami
- 1877M8.3
Off North Coast
10 May 1877 · 239 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1833M7.7
Peru: Tacna; Chile: Arica
18 Sep 1833 · 157 km away · intensity VIII
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1878M7.9
Tarapaca
23 Jan 1878 · 65 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1871M7.3
Chile
5 Oct 1871 · 92 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1705
Chile: Arica
26 Nov 1705 · 87 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.