Reviewed by USGSChile10y ago
M4.1 earthquake 87 km W of Coquimbo, Chile
Wednesday, June 1, 2016, 21:47:56 UTC · 30.106°S, 72.226°W
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 87 km W of Coquimbo, Chile on Wednesday, June 1, 2016, 21:47:56 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · mwr
- Depth
- 10 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Max intensity I
- 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
21 tons of TNT
That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
35 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
10 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 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.4 on June 29, 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 653 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 · 171 km S of this epicenter
- 8.2The 1906 Valparaiso, Chile EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 267 km S of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 153 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 297 km S of this epicenter
- 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 285 km S of this epicenter
- 7.136 km SW of Monte Patria, ChileOctober 15, 1997 · 133 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.086 km NW of La Serena, ChileMarch 19, 1904 · 104 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.025 km WNW of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 179 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 37 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 530 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 273 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
- 1971M7.8
Central
9 Jul 1971 · 284 km away · intensity IX
83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami
- 2015M8.3
Central
16 Sep 2015 · 171 km away · intensity IX
15 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
- 1943M8.2
Illapel
6 Apr 1943 · 75 km away
11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1997M7.1
Pueblo Nuevo, Coquimbo, La Chimba
15 Oct 1997 · 133 km away
8 deaths$48 million damage
- 1730M9.1
Valparaiso
8 Jul 1730 · 275 km away · intensity XI
5 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.