M4.8 earthquake 53 km NNW of Valparaíso, Chile

Tuesday, January 26, 2016, 00:19:10 UTC · 32.587°S, 71.838°W

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 53 km NNW of Valparaíso, Chile on Tuesday, January 26, 2016, 00:19:10 UTC, at a depth of 7.8 km (shallow). USGS received 25 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of V (moderate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.0 on January 10, 2016.

Magnitude: 4.8; Light · mwr
Depth: 8 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 25; Max intensity V
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

91 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

8 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
Santiago, Metropolitana, Chile	III · Weak	10	148 km
Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, Chile	IV · Light	8	54 km
Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile	V · Moderate	2	54 km
Villa Alemana, Valparaíso, Chile	IV · Light	2	67 km
Quilpué, Valparaíso, Chile	IV · Light	2	59 km
Los Andes, Valparaíso, Chile	III · Weak	1	119 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.2 on January 27, 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.

4.243 km NNW of Valparaíso, Chile10y ago · 11 km SE of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 899 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 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 · 285 km away · intensity IX
14,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 48 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 63 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
1928M7.6
Talca, Chillan, Santiago, San Fernando
1 Dec 1928 · 269 km away · intensity IX
279 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1985M8.0
Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso
3 Mar 1985 · 62 km away · intensity VIII
180 deaths$1.5 billion damagetsunami
1971M7.8
Central
9 Jul 1971 · 61 km away · intensity IX
83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami

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

Nearby trackers