Reviewed by USGSChile12y ago
M4.0 earthquake 23 km WNW of Iquique, Chile
Sunday, August 17, 2014, 18:30:26 UTC · 20.140°S, 70.366°W
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 23 km WNW of Iquique, Chile on Sunday, August 17, 2014, 18:30:26 UTC, at a depth of 40.2 km (shallow). USGS received 1 “Did You Feel It?” report, with a maximum reported intensity of II (weak).
- Magnitude
- 4.0
- Light · mwr
- Depth
- 40 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 1
- Max intensity II
- 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
15 tons of TNT
That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.
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
40 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 | II · Weak | 1 | 47 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 in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 685 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 · 72 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.8102 km ENE of Iquique, ChileJune 13, 2005 · 123 km E of this epicenter
- 7.736 km ESE of Tocopilla, ChileNovember 14, 2007 · 239 km S of this epicenter
- 7.753 km SW of Iquique, ChileApril 3, 2014 · 50 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3136 km WSW of Challapata, BoliviaJune 6, 1915 · 266 km E of this epicenter
- 7.334 km NE of Tocopilla, ChileDecember 21, 1967 · 198 km S of this epicenter
- 7.334 km S of Iquique, ChileFebruary 23, 1933 · 46 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2Near the coast of Tarapaca, ChileOctober 4, 1940 · 19 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 · 184 km away · intensity XI
25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami
- 1877M8.3
Off North Coast
10 May 1877 · 152 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1833M7.7
Peru: Tacna; Chile: Arica
18 Sep 1833 · 221 km away · intensity VIII
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 2005M7.7
Tarapaca
13 Jun 2005 · 123 km away
11 deaths$5 million damage
- 2014M8.2
Northern: Iquique, Alto Hospicio
1 Apr 2014 · 72 km away · intensity VIII
7 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1987M6.9
Arica, Iquique
8 Aug 1987 · 130 km away · intensity VII
5 deaths$1 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.