M5.5 earthquake 21 km WSW of Iquique, Chile

Sunday, July 13, 2014, 20:54:14 UTC · 20.259°S, 70.347°W

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 21 km WSW of Iquique, Chile on Sunday, July 13, 2014, 20:54:14 UTC, at a depth of 33.1 km (shallow). USGS received 19 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of VII (very strong). 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 June 20, 2014.

Magnitude: 5.5; Moderate · mww
Depth: 33 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 19; Max intensity VII
Est. shaking: VI; Strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: Green; Impact estimate
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

3 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/6 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 6 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

105 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and Altiplano plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: shallow

33 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
Iquique, Tarapacá, Chile	VII · Very strong	18	39 km

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 11 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.0 on July 21, 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 702 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 57 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 · 197 km away · intensity XI
25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami
1877M8.3
Off North Coast
10 May 1877 · 139 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
1833M7.7
Peru: Tacna; Chile: Arica
18 Sep 1833 · 234 km away · intensity VIII
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
2005M7.7
Tarapaca
13 Jun 2005 · 124 km away
11 deaths$5 million damage
2014M8.2
Northern: Iquique, Alto Hospicio
1 Apr 2014 · 85 km away · intensity VIII
7 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
1987M6.9
Arica, Iquique
8 Aug 1987 · 142 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