QuakeScout
Magnitude3.8

Reviewed by USGSChile21y ago

M3.8 earthquake 150 km E of Iquique, Chile

Friday, November 11, 2005, 13:15:29 UTC · 20.011°S, 68.729°W

A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck 150 km E of Iquique, Chile on Friday, November 11, 2005, 13:15:29 UTC, at a depth of 117.4 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
3.8
Minor · mb
Depth
117 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

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

165 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

117 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 466 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.8102 km ENE of Iquique, ChileJune 13, 2005 · 49 km W of this epicenter
  2. 7.751 km W of Atocha, BoliviaNovember 29, 1957 · 234 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 7.3136 km WSW of Challapata, BoliviaJune 6, 1915 · 114 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.334 km NE of Tocopilla, ChileDecember 21, 1967 · 244 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.334 km S of Iquique, ChileFebruary 23, 1933 · 163 km W of this epicenter
  6. 7.2Near the coast of Tarapaca, ChileOctober 4, 1940 · 177 km W of this epicenter
  7. 7.278 km SW of Colchani, BoliviaOctober 4, 1910 · 148 km SE of this epicenter
  8. 7.268 km SSE of Arica, ChileAugust 8, 1987 · 172 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 27,409 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1868M8.5

    Arica

    13 Aug 1868 · 285 km away · intensity XI

    25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami

  2. 1877M8.3

    Off North Coast

    10 May 1877 · 248 km away · intensity XI

    2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami

  3. 2005M7.7

    Tarapaca

    13 Jun 2005 · 49 km away

    11 deaths$5 million damage

  4. 1987M6.9

    Arica, Iquique

    8 Aug 1987 · 172 km away · intensity VII

    5 deaths$1 million damage

  5. 1953M7.4

    Northern

    7 Dec 1953 · 232 km away

    3 deaths$7 million damage

  6. 1970M4.6

    Potosi

    6 Mar 1970 · 290 km away

    2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

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

Nearby trackers

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