Reviewed by USGSChile21y ago
M3.8 earthquake 139 km E of Iquique, Chile
Tuesday, August 30, 2005, 07:06:02 UTC · 20.275°S, 68.821°W
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck 139 km E of Iquique, Chile on Tuesday, August 30, 2005, 07:06:02 UTC, at a depth of 105.4 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 3.8
- Minor · mb
- Depth
- 105 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
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
135 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
105 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 lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.9 on September 19, 2005. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 479 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8102 km ENE of Iquique, ChileJune 13, 2005 · 51 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.751 km W of Atocha, BoliviaNovember 29, 1957 · 232 km E of this epicenter
- 7.3136 km WSW of Challapata, BoliviaJune 6, 1915 · 143 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.334 km NE of Tocopilla, ChileDecember 21, 1967 · 214 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.334 km S of Iquique, ChileFebruary 23, 1933 · 145 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2Near the coast of Tarapaca, ChileOctober 4, 1940 · 171 km W of this epicenter
- 7.278 km SW of Colchani, BoliviaOctober 4, 1910 · 144 km E of this epicenter
- 7.268 km SSE of Arica, ChileAugust 8, 1987 · 186 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 45 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 27,407 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M8.5
Arica
13 Aug 1868 · 295 km away · intensity XI
25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami
- 1877M8.3
Off North Coast
10 May 1877 · 221 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 2005M7.7
Tarapaca
13 Jun 2005 · 51 km away
11 deaths$5 million damage
- 1987M6.9
Arica, Iquique
8 Aug 1987 · 186 km away · intensity VII
5 deaths$1 million damage
- 1953M7.4
Northern
7 Dec 1953 · 203 km away
3 deaths$7 million damage
- 1967M7.5
Northern
21 Dec 1967 · 173 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.