QuakeScout
Magnitude4.4

Reviewed by USGSChile18y ago

M4.4 earthquake 112 km N of Calama, Chile

Monday, February 18, 2008, 09:21:56 UTC · 21.444°S, 69.045°W

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 112 km N of Calama, Chile on Monday, February 18, 2008, 09:21:56 UTC, at a depth of 124.9 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
4.4
Light · m
Depth
125 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

60 tons of TNT

That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

6 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

125 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 656 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.036 km NNE of Antofagasta, ChileJuly 30, 1995 · 247 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 7.8102 km ENE of Iquique, ChileJune 13, 2005 · 163 km N of this epicenter
  3. 7.751 km W of Atocha, BoliviaNovember 29, 1957 · 248 km E of this epicenter
  4. 7.736 km ESE of Tocopilla, ChileNovember 14, 2007 · 125 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.3136 km WSW of Challapata, BoliviaJune 6, 1915 · 268 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.334 km NE of Tocopilla, ChileDecember 21, 1967 · 106 km SW of this epicenter
  7. 7.334 km S of Iquique, ChileFebruary 23, 1933 · 157 km NW of this epicenter
  8. 7.2Near the coast of Tarapaca, ChileOctober 4, 1940 · 217 km NW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 42 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,413 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1877M8.3

    Off North Coast

    10 May 1877 · 151 km away · intensity XI

    2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami

  2. 2005M7.7

    Tarapaca

    13 Jun 2005 · 163 km away

    11 deaths$5 million damage

  3. 1987M6.9

    Arica, Iquique

    8 Aug 1987 · 287 km away · intensity VII

    5 deaths$1 million damage

  4. 1953M7.4

    Northern

    7 Dec 1953 · 81 km away

    3 deaths$7 million damage

  5. 1995M8.0

    Antofagasta, Calama, Mejillones

    30 Jul 1995 · 247 km away · intensity VII

    3 deaths$2 million damagetsunami

  6. 2007M7.7

    Tocopilla, Maria Elena

    14 Nov 2007 · 125 km away · intensity VIII

    2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages