M6.5 earthquake 99 km SE of Rengo, Chile

Friday, January 30, 1914, 07:35:45 UTC · 34.951°S, 69.989°W

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 99 km SE of Rengo, Chile on Friday, January 30, 1914, 07:35:45 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude: 6.5; Strong · mw
Depth: 15 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

94 kilotons of TNT

That is about 6 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 197 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

296 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

15 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 18,137 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1861
Mendoza, San Luiz
20 Mar 1861 · 263 km away · intensity IX
14,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 285 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
1822M8.5
Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua
20 Nov 1822 · 285 km away · intensity XI
72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1751M8.5
Concepcion, Chillan, Talca, Tutuben, Curico
25 May 1751 · 256 km away · intensity XI
65 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1871M7.5
Central
25 Mar 1871 · 229 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1851M7.1
Valparaiso
2 Apr 1851 · 224 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami

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

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