QuakeScout
Magnitude3.4

Reviewed by USGSChile28y ago

M3.4 earthquake 96 km ESE of Chimbarongo, Chile

Tuesday, December 1, 1998, 00:56:37 UTC · 35.032°S, 70.065°W

A magnitude 3.4 earthquake struck 96 km ESE of Chimbarongo, Chile on Tuesday, December 1, 1998, 00:56:37 UTC, at a depth of 185.6 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
3.4
Minor · md
Depth
186 km
Intermediate
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

2 tons of TNT

That is about 1/7,931 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 251 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

293 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: intermediate

186 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

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

  1. 8.025 km WSW of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 3, 1985 · 269 km NW of this epicenter
  2. 7.826 km WNW of San Carlos, ChileJanuary 25, 1939 · 240 km SW of this epicenter
  3. 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 287 km N of this epicenter
  4. 7.730 km NNE of Constitución, ChileDecember 1, 1928 · 201 km W of this epicenter
  5. 7.7103 km NW of Constitución, ChileJanuary 30, 1914 · 297 km W of this epicenter
  6. 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 299 km N of this epicenter
  7. 7.419 km S of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 4, 1985 · 251 km NW of this epicenter
  8. 7.247 km NW of Cauquenes, ChileDecember 2, 1928 · 254 km W of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 29 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 48,735 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1939M8.3

    Chillan

    25 Jan 1939 · 239 km away · intensity X

    30,000 deaths$920 million damagetsunami

  2. 1861

    Mendoza, San Luiz

    20 Mar 1861 · 274 km away · intensity IX

    14,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

  3. 1906M8.2

    South Central

    17 Aug 1906 · 288 km away · intensity XI

    4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami

  4. 1928M7.6

    Talca, Chillan, Santiago, San Fernando

    1 Dec 1928 · 176 km away · intensity IX

    279 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  5. 1985M8.0

    Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso

    3 Mar 1985 · 260 km away · intensity VIII

    180 deaths$1.5 billion damagetsunami

  6. 1971M7.8

    Central

    9 Jul 1971 · 300 km away · intensity IX

    83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages