QuakeScout
Magnitude4.3

Reviewed by USGSChile10y ago

M4.3 earthquake 34 km ENE of Salamanca, Chile

Monday, December 28, 2015, 07:25:36 UTC · 31.628°S, 70.641°W

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 34 km ENE of Salamanca, Chile on Monday, December 28, 2015, 07:25:36 UTC, at a depth of 117.1 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
4.3
Light · mb
Depth
117 km
Intermediate
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

43 tons of TNT

That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

193 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: intermediate

117 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 948 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.348 km W of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 98 km W of this epicenter
  2. 8.2The 1906 Valparaiso, Chile EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 112 km SW of this epicenter
  3. 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 80 km NW of this epicenter
  4. 8.025 km WSW of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 3, 1985 · 204 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 121 km SW of this epicenter
  6. 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 112 km SW of this epicenter
  7. 7.4San Juan, ArgentinaNovember 23, 1977 · 281 km E of this epicenter
  8. 7.419 km S of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 4, 1985 · 200 km SW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 58 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 29,271 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1861

    Mendoza, San Luiz

    20 Mar 1861 · 217 km away · intensity IX

    14,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

  2. 1944M6.9

    San Juan Province

    15 Jan 1944 · 204 km away · intensity IX

    10,000 deaths$100 million damage

  3. 1906M8.2

    South Central

    17 Aug 1906 · 199 km away · intensity XI

    4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami

  4. 1965M7.3

    Central

    28 Mar 1965 · 101 km away

    400 deaths$125 million damage

  5. 1920M6.7

    Mendoza

    17 Dec 1920 · 213 km away · intensity VIII

    400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  6. 1985M8.0

    Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso

    3 Mar 1985 · 195 km away · intensity VIII

    180 deaths$1.5 billion damagetsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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