QuakeScout
Magnitude4.3

Reviewed by USGSChile41y ago

M4.3 earthquake 73 km W of Cartagena, Chile

Thursday, February 13, 1986, 01:10:33 UTC · 33.483°S, 72.394°W

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 73 km W of Cartagena, Chile on Thursday, February 13, 1986, 01:10:33 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.3
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

43 tons of TNT

That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

45 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 250 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.2The 1906 Valparaiso, Chile EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 152 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 265 km N of this epicenter
  3. 8.025 km WSW of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 3, 1985 · 62 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 149 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 7.730 km NNE of Constitución, ChileDecember 1, 1928 · 178 km S of this epicenter
  6. 7.7103 km NW of Constitución, ChileJanuary 30, 1914 · 165 km SW of this epicenter
  7. 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 154 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 7.419 km S of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 4, 1985 · 75 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 32 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 5,032 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1906M8.2

    South Central

    17 Aug 1906 · 65 km away · intensity XI

    4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami

  2. 1965M7.3

    Central

    28 Mar 1965 · 164 km away

    400 deaths$125 million damage

  3. 1928M7.6

    Talca, Chillan, Santiago, San Fernando

    1 Dec 1928 · 173 km away · intensity IX

    279 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  4. 1985M8.0

    Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso

    3 Mar 1985 · 75 km away · intensity VIII

    180 deaths$1.5 billion damagetsunami

  5. 1971M7.8

    Central

    9 Jul 1971 · 156 km away · intensity IX

    83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami

  6. 1822M8.5

    Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua

    20 Nov 1822 · 65 km away · intensity XI

    72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages