Reviewed by USGSChile45y ago
M4.7 earthquake 137 km NW of Valparaíso, Chile
Saturday, October 31, 1981, 14:47:06 UTC · 32.317°S, 72.824°W
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 137 km NW of Valparaíso, Chile on Saturday, October 31, 1981, 14:47:06 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.1 on October 22, 1981.
- Magnitude
- 4.7
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 33 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
169 tons of TNT
That is about 1/89 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
6 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
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
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 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 144 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.2The 1906 Valparaiso, Chile EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 134 km E of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 181 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 159 km E of this epicenter
- 7.7103 km NW of Constitución, ChileJanuary 30, 1914 · 276 km S of this epicenter
- 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 153 km E of this epicenter
- 7.237 km S of San Antonio, ChileMarch 18, 1931 · 214 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2135 km W of Valparaíso, ChileOctober 16, 1981 · 94 km S of this epicenter
- 7.060 km WSW of Coquimbo, ChileApril 19, 1955 · 258 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 33 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,575 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 108 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 153 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
- 1971M7.8
Central
9 Jul 1971 · 154 km away · intensity IX
83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami
- 1822M8.5
Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua
20 Nov 1822 · 108 km away · intensity XI
72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1943M8.2
Illapel
6 Apr 1943 · 191 km away
11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1730M9.1
Valparaiso
8 Jul 1730 · 126 km away · intensity XI
5 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.