M7.2 earthquake 59 km S of San Antonio, Chile

Tuesday, April 9, 1985, 01:56:59 UTC · 34.131°S, 71.618°W

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck 59 km S of San Antonio, Chile on Tuesday, April 9, 1985, 01:56:59 UTC, at a depth of 37.8 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.4 on March 4, 1985.

Magnitude: 7.2; Major · mw
Depth: 38 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VII; Very strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 200 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

951 kilotons of TNT

That is about 63 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,995 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

126 km

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

Depth: shallow

38 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 200 km

USGS lists 25 M2.5+ earthquakes within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.6 on April 28, 1985. 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 233 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 38 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 49,112 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1939M8.3
Chillan
25 Jan 1939 · 243 km away · intensity X
30,000 deaths$920 million damagetsunami
1861
Mendoza, San Luiz
20 Mar 1861 · 300 km away · intensity IX
14,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 131 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 196 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
1928M7.6
Talca, Chillan, Santiago, San Fernando
1 Dec 1928 · 103 km away · intensity IX
279 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1985M8.0
Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso
3 Mar 1985 · 111 km away · intensity VIII
180 deaths$1.5 billion damagetsunami

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

Nearby trackers