Reviewed by USGSChile10y ago
M4.0 earthquake 88 km WNW of Ovalle, Chile
Monday, October 10, 2016, 12:21:19 UTC · 30.422°S, 72.100°W
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 88 km WNW of Ovalle, Chile on Monday, October 10, 2016, 12:21:19 UTC, at a depth of 17.6 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.0
- Light · mwr
- Depth
- 18 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 earthquake
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
49 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
18 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 693 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 · 134 km S of this epicenter
- 8.2The 1906 Valparaiso, Chile EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 230 km S of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 117 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 260 km S of this epicenter
- 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 248 km S of this epicenter
- 7.136 km SW of Monte Patria, ChileOctober 15, 1997 · 102 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.086 km NW of La Serena, ChileMarch 19, 1904 · 133 km N of this epicenter
- 7.025 km WNW of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 142 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 47 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,602 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 287 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 236 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
- 1971M7.8
Central
9 Jul 1971 · 246 km away · intensity IX
83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami
- 1822M8.5
Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua
20 Nov 1822 · 287 km away · intensity XI
72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 2015M8.3
Central
16 Sep 2015 · 134 km away · intensity IX
15 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
- 1943M8.2
Illapel
6 Apr 1943 · 38 km away
11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.