Reviewed by USGSChile10y ago
M4.1 earthquake 87 km NW of Illapel, Chile
Saturday, July 23, 2016, 14:18:20 UTC · 31.175°S, 71.918°W
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 87 km NW of Illapel, Chile on Saturday, July 23, 2016, 14:18:20 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · mwr
- Depth
- 35 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 earthquake
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
69 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
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 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 807 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 · 50 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.2The 1906 Valparaiso, Chile EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 145 km S of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 53 km E of this epicenter
- 8.025 km WSW of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 3, 1985 · 218 km S of this epicenter
- 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 175 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 164 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.419 km S of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 4, 1985 · 227 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2135 km W of Valparaíso, ChileOctober 16, 1981 · 243 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 50 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,786 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 203 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 152 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
- 1985M8.0
Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso
3 Mar 1985 · 218 km away · intensity VIII
180 deaths$1.5 billion damagetsunami
- 1971M7.8
Central
9 Jul 1971 · 162 km away · intensity IX
83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami
- 1822M8.5
Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua
20 Nov 1822 · 203 km away · intensity XI
72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 2015M8.3
Central
16 Sep 2015 · 50 km away · intensity IX
15 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.