Reviewed by USGSChile12y ago
M4.2 earthquake 154 km NNE of Calama, Chile
Thursday, May 1, 2014, 16:21:09 UTC · 21.085°S, 68.628°W
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 154 km NNE of Calama, Chile on Thursday, May 1, 2014, 16:21:09 UTC, at a depth of 134.3 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 134 km
- Intermediate
- 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
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
46 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Altiplano and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
134 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.2 on May 17, 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 800 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 · 277 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.8102 km ENE of Iquique, ChileJune 13, 2005 · 136 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.751 km W of Atocha, BoliviaNovember 29, 1957 · 199 km E of this epicenter
- 7.736 km ESE of Tocopilla, ChileNovember 14, 2007 · 184 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.753 km SW of Iquique, ChileApril 3, 2014 · 202 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3136 km WSW of Challapata, BoliviaJune 6, 1915 · 215 km N of this epicenter
- 7.334 km NE of Tocopilla, ChileDecember 21, 1967 · 163 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.334 km S of Iquique, ChileFebruary 23, 1933 · 174 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 45 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,417 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1877M8.3
Off North Coast
10 May 1877 · 199 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 2005M7.7
Tarapaca
13 Jun 2005 · 136 km away
11 deaths$5 million damage
- 2014M8.2
Northern: Iquique, Alto Hospicio
1 Apr 2014 · 277 km away · intensity VIII
7 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1987M6.9
Arica, Iquique
8 Aug 1987 · 270 km away · intensity VII
5 deaths$1 million damage
- 1953M7.4
Northern
7 Dec 1953 · 113 km away
3 deaths$7 million damage
- 2007M7.7
Tocopilla, Maria Elena
14 Nov 2007 · 184 km away · intensity VIII
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.