M6.8 earthquake 68 km NNE of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Thursday, November 17, 2005, 19:26:54 UTC · 22.361°S, 67.895°W

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 68 km NNE of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile on Thursday, November 17, 2005, 19:26:54 UTC, at a depth of 147.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.8 on June 13, 2005.

Magnitude: 6.8; Strong · mwb
Depth: 147 km; Intermediate
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VI; Strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

239 kilotons of TNT

That is about 16 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 501 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

95 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Altiplano and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: intermediate

147 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 100 km

USGS lists 8 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.3 on December 12, 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 597 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 22 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,406 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1877M8.3
Off North Coast
10 May 1877 · 285 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
2005M7.7
Tarapaca
13 Jun 2005 · 296 km away
11 deaths$5 million damage
1953M7.4
Northern
7 Dec 1953 · 88 km away
3 deaths$7 million damage
1995M8.0
Antofagasta, Calama, Mejillones
30 Jul 1995 · 269 km away · intensity VII
3 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
1967M7.5
Northern
21 Dec 1967 · 181 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1976M7.3
Pozo Almonte, Oficina Victoria, Arica
30 Nov 1976 · 231 km away · intensity VIII
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)

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

Nearby trackers