Reviewed by USGSChile10y ago
M4.3 earthquake 35 km WNW of Ovalle, Chile
Saturday, October 29, 2016, 11:57:40 UTC · 30.482°S, 71.546°W
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 35 km WNW of Ovalle, Chile on Saturday, October 29, 2016, 11:57:40 UTC, at a depth of 22.4 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 22 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
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
102 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
22 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 770 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.594 km ENE of Vallenar, ChileNovember 11, 1922 · 294 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.348 km W of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 122 km S of this epicenter
- 8.2The 1906 Valparaiso, Chile EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 214 km S of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 88 km S of this epicenter
- 8.025 km WSW of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 3, 1985 · 297 km S of this epicenter
- 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 240 km S of this epicenter
- 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 228 km S of this epicenter
- 7.136 km SW of Monte Patria, ChileOctober 15, 1997 · 59 km SE of this epicenter
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 5,485 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 283 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1922M8.5
Atacama
11 Nov 1922 · 294 km away · intensity XI
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 216 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
- 1985M8.0
Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso
3 Mar 1985 · 295 km away · intensity VIII
180 deaths$1.5 billion damagetsunami
- 1971M7.8
Central
9 Jul 1971 · 227 km away · intensity IX
83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami
- 1822M8.5
Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua
20 Nov 1822 · 283 km away · intensity XI
72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.