Reviewed by USGSChile10y ago
M4.2 earthquake 84 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile
Thursday, December 3, 2015, 03:56:47 UTC · 30.193°S, 72.169°W
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 84 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile on Thursday, December 3, 2015, 03:56:47 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mwr
- 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
41 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 50 km
USGS lists 9 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on December 13, 2015. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
- 4.376 km W of Coquimbo, Chile10y ago · 38 km N of this epicenter
- 4.486 km W of Ovalle, Chile10y ago · 37 km S of this epicenter
- 4.593 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile10y ago · 21 km S of this epicenter
- 4.884 km W of Ovalle, Chile10y ago · 42 km S of this epicenter
- 4.184 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile10y ago · 20 km SE of this epicenter
- 4.188 km WNW of Ovalle, Chile10y ago · 26 km S of this epicenter
- 4.689 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile10y ago · 14 km S of this epicenter
- 4.288 km W of Ovalle, Chile10y ago · 39 km S of this epicenter
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 639 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.348 km W of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 161 km S of this epicenter
- 8.2The 1906 Valparaiso, Chile EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 256 km S of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 141 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 286 km S of this epicenter
- 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 274 km S of this epicenter
- 7.136 km SW of Monte Patria, ChileOctober 15, 1997 · 123 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.086 km NW of La Serena, ChileMarch 19, 1904 · 111 km N of this epicenter
- 7.025 km WNW of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 168 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 37 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 530 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 262 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
- 1971M7.8
Central
9 Jul 1971 · 273 km away · intensity IX
83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami
- 2015M8.3
Central
16 Sep 2015 · 161 km away · intensity IX
15 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
- 1943M8.2
Illapel
6 Apr 1943 · 64 km away
11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1997M7.1
Pueblo Nuevo, Coquimbo, La Chimba
15 Oct 1997 · 123 km away
8 deaths$48 million damage
- 1730M9.1
Valparaiso
8 Jul 1730 · 264 km away · intensity XI
5 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.