M6.7 earthquake 210 km WNW of Valparaíso, Chile

Sunday, December 11, 1904, 17:05:42 UTC · 32.312°S, 73.706°W

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 210 km WNW of Valparaíso, Chile on Sunday, December 11, 1904, 17:05:42 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude: 6.7; Strong · mw
Depth: 10 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

181 kilotons of TNT

That is about 12 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 380 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

86 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

10 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 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 79 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1822M8.5
Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua
20 Nov 1822 · 177 km away · intensity XI
72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1730M9.1
Valparaiso
8 Jul 1730 · 208 km away · intensity XI
5 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1880M7.7
Illapel
15 Aug 1880 · 250 km away · intensity X
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1851M7.1
Valparaiso
2 Apr 1851 · 241 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1873
Ligua, Quillolta
7 Jul 1873 · 239 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1847M7.3
Coquimbo
8 Oct 1847 · 251 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)

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

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