Reviewed by USGSChile3d ago
M4.2 earthquake 33 km NNW of La Serena, Chile
Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 03:07:08 UTC · 29.619°S, 71.376°W
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 33 km NNW of La Serena, Chile on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 03:07:08 UTC, at a depth of 62.4 km (shallow). USGS received 1 “Did You Feel It?” report, with a maximum reported intensity of III (weak).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 62 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 1
- Max intensity III
- 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
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
114 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
62 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Serena, Coquimbo, Chile | III · Weak | 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 since this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 823 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 · 209 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.348 km W of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 219 km S of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 183 km S of this epicenter
- 7.4Atacama, ChileApril 18, 1939 · 271 km N of this epicenter
- 7.136 km SW of Monte Patria, ChileOctober 15, 1997 · 147 km S of this epicenter
- 7.086 km NW of La Serena, ChileMarch 19, 1904 · 54 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.025 km WNW of Illapel, ChileSeptember 16, 2015 · 216 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0118 km WNW of Vallenar, ChileNovember 7, 1922 · 150 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 41 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 751 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1922M8.5
Atacama
11 Nov 1922 · 209 km away · intensity XI
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 2015M8.3
Central
16 Sep 2015 · 219 km away · intensity IX
15 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
- 1943M8.2
Illapel
6 Apr 1943 · 139 km away
11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1859M7.6
Chile
5 Oct 1859 · 272 km away · intensity X
10 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1997M7.1
Pueblo Nuevo, Coquimbo, La Chimba
15 Oct 1997 · 147 km away
8 deaths$48 million damage
- 2019M6.7
Coquimbo, La Serena
20 Jan 2019 · 47 km away
2 deaths$100 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.