M4.8 earthquake 22 km NW of Ovalle, Chile

Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 13:28:11 UTC · 30.441°S, 71.345°W

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 22 km NW of Ovalle, Chile on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 13:28:11 UTC, at a depth of 49.7 km (shallow). USGS received 3 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of III (weak). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on February 25, 2016.

Magnitude: 4.8; Light · mww
Depth: 50 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 3; Max intensity III
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

239 tons of TNT

That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

121 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

50 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

Reports sent by people to USGS, grouped by place (most reports first). Intensity uses the Modified Mercalli scale (I–X): what people felt, not the magnitude.

Place	Intensity	Reports	Distance
Coquimbo, Coquimbo, Chile	III · Weak	1	72 km
La Serena, Coquimbo, Chile	III · Weak	1	78 km
Ovalle, Coquimbo, Chile	II · Weak	1	54 km

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 12 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.1 on March 12, 2016. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 748 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 52 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 15,305 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1944M6.9
San Juan Province
15 Jan 1944 · 296 km away · intensity IX
10,000 deaths$100 million damage
1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 291 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
1922M8.5
Atacama
11 Nov 1922 · 279 km away · intensity XI
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 218 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
1971M7.8
Central
9 Jul 1971 · 229 km away · intensity IX
83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami
1822M8.5
Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua
20 Nov 1822 · 291 km away · intensity XI
72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers