M7.0 earthquake 86 km NW of La Serena, Chile

Saturday, March 19, 1904, 06:27:57 UTC · 29.262°S, 71.753°W

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 86 km NW of La Serena, Chile on Saturday, March 19, 1904, 06:27:57 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude: 7.0; Major · ms
Depth: 20 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

477 kilotons of TNT

That is about 32 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,000 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

71 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

20 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 no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 17 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 12 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1859M7.6
Chile
5 Oct 1859 · 253 km away · intensity X
10 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
1880M7.7
Illapel
15 Aug 1880 · 268 km away · intensity X
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1819M8.5
Copiapo
12 Apr 1819 · 253 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1819M8.0
Copiapo
4 Apr 1819 · 251 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
1819M8.0
Copiapo
3 Apr 1819 · 251 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1796M7.7
Copiapo, Vallenar, Huasco, Coquimbo
30 Mar 1796 · 253 km away · intensity XI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)

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

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