Reviewed by USGSChile10y ago
M4.0 earthquake 26 km NNW of La Serena, Chile
Saturday, April 2, 2016, 15:13:31 UTC · 29.678°S, 71.321°W
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 26 km NNW of La Serena, Chile on Saturday, April 2, 2016, 15:13:31 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.0
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 35 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
15 tons of TNT
That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
120 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
35 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.5 on April 18, 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 698 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 · 210 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.348 km W of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 213 km S of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 176 km S of this epicenter
- 7.4Atacama, ChileApril 18, 1939 · 277 km N of this epicenter
- 7.136 km SW of Monte Patria, ChileOctober 15, 1997 · 140 km S of this epicenter
- 7.086 km NW of La Serena, ChileMarch 19, 1904 · 62 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.025 km WNW of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 210 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0118 km WNW of Vallenar, ChileNovember 7, 1922 · 158 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 39 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 749 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1922M8.5
Atacama
11 Nov 1922 · 210 km away · intensity XI
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 2015M8.3
Central
16 Sep 2015 · 213 km away · intensity IX
15 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
- 1943M8.2
Illapel
6 Apr 1943 · 136 km away
11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1859M7.6
Chile
5 Oct 1859 · 276 km away · intensity X
10 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1997M7.1
Pueblo Nuevo, Coquimbo, La Chimba
15 Oct 1997 · 140 km away
8 deaths$48 million damage
- 1880M7.7
Illapel
15 Aug 1880 · 216 km away · intensity X
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.