Reviewed by USGSChile10y ago
M4.5 earthquake 48 km NNE of La Serena, Chile
Monday, April 18, 2016, 04:25:59 UTC · 29.517°S, 71.016°W
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 48 km NNE of La Serena, Chile on Monday, April 18, 2016, 04:25:59 UTC, at a depth of 39.7 km (shallow). USGS received 1 “Did You Feel It?” report, with a maximum reported intensity of IV (light). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on April 17, 2016.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 40 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 1
- Max intensity IV
- 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
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
146 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
40 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coquimbo, Coquimbo, Chile | IV · Light | 1 | 70 km |
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 700 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 · 177 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.348 km W of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 237 km S of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 197 km S of this epicenter
- 7.4Atacama, ChileApril 18, 1939 · 256 km N of this epicenter
- 7.136 km SW of Monte Patria, ChileOctober 15, 1997 · 159 km S of this epicenter
- 7.086 km NW of La Serena, ChileMarch 19, 1904 · 77 km W of this epicenter
- 7.025 km WNW of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 231 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0118 km WNW of Vallenar, ChileNovember 7, 1922 · 156 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 40 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 760 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1922M8.5
Atacama
11 Nov 1922 · 177 km away · intensity XI
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 2015M8.3
Central
16 Sep 2015 · 237 km away · intensity IX
15 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
- 1899
La Rioja
12 Apr 1899 · 272 km away · intensity VIII
11 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1943M8.2
Illapel
6 Apr 1943 · 167 km away
11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1859M7.6
Chile
5 Oct 1859 · 250 km away · intensity X
10 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1997M7.1
Pueblo Nuevo, Coquimbo, La Chimba
15 Oct 1997 · 159 km away
8 deaths$48 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.