QuakeScout
Magnitude3.8

Reviewed by USGSChile28y ago

M3.8 earthquake 140 km W of Illapel, Chile

Monday, June 29, 1998, 10:39:40 UTC · 31.744°S, 72.642°W

A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck 140 km W of Illapel, Chile on Monday, June 29, 1998, 10:39:40 UTC, at a depth of 18.9 km (shallow).

Magnitude
3.8
Minor · md
Depth
19 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

8 tons of TNT

That is about 1/1,992 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 63 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

19 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 428 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 · 138 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 132 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 8.025 km WSW of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 3, 1985 · 171 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 169 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 160 km SE of this epicenter
  6. 7.419 km S of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 4, 1985 · 187 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.237 km S of San Antonio, ChileMarch 18, 1931 · 263 km S of this epicenter
  8. 7.259 km S of San Antonio, ChileApril 9, 1985 · 282 km S of this epicenter

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 4,768 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1906M8.2

    South Central

    17 Aug 1906 · 152 km away · intensity XI

    4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami

  2. 1965M7.3

    Central

    28 Mar 1965 · 154 km away

    400 deaths$125 million damage

  3. 1985M8.0

    Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso

    3 Mar 1985 · 177 km away · intensity VIII

    180 deaths$1.5 billion damagetsunami

  4. 1971M7.8

    Central

    9 Jul 1971 · 160 km away · intensity IX

    83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami

  5. 1822M8.5

    Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua

    20 Nov 1822 · 152 km away · intensity XI

    72 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

  6. 1943M8.2

    Illapel

    6 Apr 1943 · 126 km away

    11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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