Reviewed by USGSChile10y ago
M4.1 earthquake 34 km W of Ovalle, Chile
Friday, August 19, 2016, 03:35:26 UTC · 30.623°S, 71.561°W
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 34 km W of Ovalle, Chile on Friday, August 19, 2016, 03:35:26 UTC, at a depth of 26.8 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 27 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
21 tons of TNT
That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
101 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
27 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 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.3 on September 9, 2016. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 778 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 · 106 km S of this epicenter
- 8.2The 1906 Valparaiso, Chile EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 198 km S of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 73 km S of this epicenter
- 8.025 km WSW of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 3, 1985 · 281 km S of this epicenter
- 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 225 km S of this epicenter
- 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 213 km S of this epicenter
- 7.419 km S of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 4, 1985 · 287 km S of this epicenter
- 7.136 km SW of Monte Patria, ChileOctober 15, 1997 · 47 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 53 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,785 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 268 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 201 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
- 1985M8.0
Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso
3 Mar 1985 · 279 km away · intensity VIII
180 deaths$1.5 billion damagetsunami
- 1971M7.8
Central
9 Jul 1971 · 212 km away · intensity IX
83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami
- 1822M8.5
Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua
20 Nov 1822 · 268 km away · intensity XI
72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 2015M8.3
Central
16 Sep 2015 · 106 km away · intensity IX
15 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.