M5.0 earthquake 52 km N of Calama, Chile

Thursday, May 8, 2008, 00:27:22 UTC · 21.989°S, 68.830°W

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 52 km N of Calama, Chile on Thursday, May 8, 2008, 00:27:22 UTC, at a depth of 110.5 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on March 24, 2008.

Magnitude: 5.0; Moderate · mb
Depth: 111 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: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

477 tons of TNT

That is about 1/32 of the Hiroshima bomb. Each whole step in magnitude is about 32 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

54 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

111 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 75 km

USGS lists 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.3 on May 28, 2008. 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 712 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 35 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,409 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1877M8.3
Off North Coast
10 May 1877 · 181 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
2005M7.7
Tarapaca
13 Jun 2005 · 226 km away
11 deaths$5 million damage
1953M7.4
Northern
7 Dec 1953 · 18 km away
3 deaths$7 million damage
1995M8.0
Antofagasta, Calama, Mejillones
30 Jul 1995 · 212 km away · intensity VII
3 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
2007M7.7
Tocopilla, Maria Elena
14 Nov 2007 · 113 km away · intensity VIII
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1967M7.5
Northern
21 Dec 1967 · 76 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers