Reviewed by USGSChile39y ago
M5.1 earthquake 52 km WNW of Iquique, Chile
Monday, August 24, 1987, 06:09:43 UTC · 20.096°S, 70.632°W
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 52 km WNW of Iquique, Chile on Monday, August 24, 1987, 06:09:43 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on August 13, 1987.
- Magnitude
- 5.1
- Moderate · mw
- 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
674 tons of TNT
That is about 1/22 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
78 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and Altiplano 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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 232 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.3136 km WSW of Challapata, BoliviaJune 6, 1915 · 290 km E of this epicenter
- 7.334 km NE of Tocopilla, ChileDecember 21, 1967 · 210 km S of this epicenter
- 7.334 km S of Iquique, ChileFebruary 23, 1933 · 66 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2Near the coast of Tarapaca, ChileOctober 4, 1940 · 25 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.268 km SSE of Arica, ChileAugust 8, 1987 · 137 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.1136 km E of Iquique, ChileJune 14, 1959 · 188 km E of this epicenter
- 6.9119 km W of Iquique, ChileSeptember 15, 1911 · 70 km W of this epicenter
- 6.925 km ENE of Arica, ChileAugust 30, 1906 · 201 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 46 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 28,097 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M8.5
Arica
13 Aug 1868 · 171 km away · intensity XI
25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami
- 1877M8.3
Off North Coast
10 May 1877 · 157 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1833M7.7
Peru: Tacna; Chile: Arica
18 Sep 1833 · 209 km away · intensity VIII
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1987M6.9
Arica, Iquique
8 Aug 1987 · 137 km away · intensity VII
5 deaths$1 million damage
- 1953M7.4
Northern
7 Dec 1953 · 300 km away
3 deaths$7 million damage
- 1967M7.5
Northern
21 Dec 1967 · 214 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.