M6.9 earthquake 57 km W of Ovalle, Chile

Thursday, February 15, 1917, 00:48:28 UTC · 30.519°S, 71.789°W

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck 57 km W of Ovalle, Chile on Thursday, February 15, 1917, 00:48:28 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M8.2 on August 17, 1906.

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

338 kilotons of TNT

That is about 22 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 708 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

79 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

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 5 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 22 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,079 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 277 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
1822M8.5
Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua
20 Nov 1822 · 277 km away · intensity XI
72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1730M9.1
Valparaiso
8 Jul 1730 · 222 km away · intensity XI
5 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1880M7.7
Illapel
15 Aug 1880 · 135 km away · intensity X
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1873
Ligua, Quillolta
7 Jul 1873 · 207 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1903M6.5
Vallenar, Freirina
7 Dec 1903 · 237 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers