M5.8 earthquake in Chile-Bolivia border region

Sunday, August 14, 2005, 02:39:40 UTC · 19.780°S, 68.980°W

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck in Chile-Bolivia border region on Sunday, August 14, 2005, 02:39:40 UTC, at a depth of 113.8 km (intermediate). USGS received 5 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of IV (light). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.9 on July 13, 2005.

Magnitude: 5.8; Moderate · mwb
Depth: 114 km; Intermediate
Felt reports: 5; Max intensity IV
Est. shaking: IV; Light (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

8 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 16 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

190 km

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

Depth: intermediate

114 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

Reports sent by people to USGS, grouped by place (most reports first). Intensity uses the Modified Mercalli scale (I–X): what people felt, not the magnitude.

Place	Intensity	Reports	Distance
Iquique, Tarapacá, Chile	IV · Light	5	173 km

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 lists 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.3 on August 29, 2005. 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 456 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 46 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 28,108 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1868M8.5
Arica
13 Aug 1868 · 249 km away · intensity XI
25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami
1877M8.3
Off North Coast
10 May 1877 · 248 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
1833M7.7
Peru: Tacna; Chile: Arica
18 Sep 1833 · 273 km away · intensity VIII
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
2005M7.7
Tarapaca
13 Jun 2005 · 32 km away
11 deaths$5 million damage
1987M6.9
Arica, Iquique
8 Aug 1987 · 135 km away · intensity VII
5 deaths$1 million damage
1953M7.4
Northern
7 Dec 1953 · 260 km away
3 deaths$7 million damage

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

Nearby trackers