Reviewed by USGSChile10y ago
M3.9 earthquake 44 km NNW of Viña del Mar, Chile
Saturday, September 24, 2016, 20:07:18 UTC · 32.636°S, 71.660°W
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck 44 km NNW of Viña del Mar, Chile on Saturday, September 24, 2016, 20:07:18 UTC, at a depth of 17.7 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.9
- Minor · mwr
- Depth
- 18 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
11 tons of TNT
That is about 1/1,410 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 45 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
109 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
18 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 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 931 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 · 118 km N of this epicenter
- 8.2The 1906 Valparaiso, Chile EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 36 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 155 km N of this epicenter
- 8.025 km WSW of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 3, 1985 · 59 km S of this epicenter
- 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 46 km E of this epicenter
- 7.730 km NNE of Constitución, ChileDecember 1, 1928 · 278 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7103 km NW of Constitución, ChileJanuary 30, 1914 · 281 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 45 km E 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 19,079 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1861
Mendoza, San Luiz
20 Mar 1861 · 268 km away · intensity IX
14,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 51 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 50 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
- 1928M7.6
Talca, Chillan, Santiago, San Fernando
1 Dec 1928 · 265 km away · intensity IX
279 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1985M8.0
Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso
3 Mar 1985 · 55 km away · intensity VIII
180 deaths$1.5 billion damagetsunami
- 1971M7.8
Central
9 Jul 1971 · 46 km away · intensity IX
83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.