Reviewed by USGSChile12y ago
M4.1 earthquake 29 km W of Iquique, Chile
Friday, May 9, 2014, 21:09:55 UTC · 20.187°S, 70.430°W
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 29 km W of Iquique, Chile on Friday, May 9, 2014, 21:09:55 UTC, at a depth of 34.2 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · ml
- Depth
- 34 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 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
97 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and Altiplano plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
34 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 4 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.9 on June 5, 2014. 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 678 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.293 km NW of Iquique, ChileApril 1, 2014 · 73 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.8102 km ENE of Iquique, ChileJune 13, 2005 · 131 km E of this epicenter
- 7.736 km ESE of Tocopilla, ChileNovember 14, 2007 · 236 km S of this epicenter
- 7.753 km SW of Iquique, ChileApril 3, 2014 · 43 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3136 km WSW of Challapata, BoliviaJune 6, 1915 · 274 km E of this epicenter
- 7.334 km NE of Tocopilla, ChileDecember 21, 1967 · 194 km S of this epicenter
- 7.334 km S of Iquique, ChileFebruary 23, 1933 · 45 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2Near the coast of Tarapaca, ChileOctober 4, 1940 · 23 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 56 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 28,117 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M8.5
Arica
13 Aug 1868 · 186 km away · intensity XI
25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami
- 1877M8.3
Off North Coast
10 May 1877 · 146 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1833M7.7
Peru: Tacna; Chile: Arica
18 Sep 1833 · 224 km away · intensity VIII
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 2005M7.7
Tarapaca
13 Jun 2005 · 131 km away
11 deaths$5 million damage
- 2014M8.2
Northern: Iquique, Alto Hospicio
1 Apr 2014 · 73 km away · intensity VIII
7 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1987M6.9
Arica, Iquique
8 Aug 1987 · 137 km away · intensity VII
5 deaths$1 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.