M5.6 earthquake 81 km WNW of Puerto, Chile

Saturday, May 17, 2014, 09:11:05 UTC · 19.987°S, 70.897°W

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 81 km WNW of Puerto, Chile on Saturday, May 17, 2014, 09:11:05 UTC, at a depth of 5.6 km (shallow). The USGS PAGER alert is green: low likelihood of casualties and damage. It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.8 on April 19, 2014.

Magnitude: 5.6; Moderate · mww
Depth: 6 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: IV; Light (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: Green; Impact estimate
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

4 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/4 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 8 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

54 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

6 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 populated area was estimated to feel noticeable shaking.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 75 km

USGS lists 17 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.9 on May 28, 2014. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 583 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 53 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 28,114 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1868M8.5
Arica
13 Aug 1868 · 155 km away · intensity XI
25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami
1877M8.3
Off North Coast
10 May 1877 · 173 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
1833M7.7
Peru: Tacna; Chile: Arica
18 Sep 1833 · 193 km away · intensity VIII
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
2005M7.7
Tarapaca
13 Jun 2005 · 178 km away
11 deaths$5 million damage
2014M8.2
Northern: Iquique, Alto Hospicio
1 Apr 2014 · 44 km away · intensity VIII
7 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
1987M6.9
Arica, Iquique
8 Aug 1987 · 143 km away · intensity VII
5 deaths$1 million damage

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers