Reviewed by USGSChile18y ago
M4.3 earthquake 161 km ESE of Iquique, Chile
Thursday, July 17, 2008, 08:35:01 UTC · 20.650°S, 68.674°W
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 161 km ESE of Iquique, Chile on Thursday, July 17, 2008, 08:35:01 UTC, at a depth of 113.4 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 113 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
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
94 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
113 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 M4.2 on August 9, 2008. 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 556 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 · 92 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.751 km W of Atocha, BoliviaNovember 29, 1957 · 207 km E of this epicenter
- 7.736 km ESE of Tocopilla, ChileNovember 14, 2007 · 218 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.3136 km WSW of Challapata, BoliviaJune 6, 1915 · 171 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.334 km NE of Tocopilla, ChileDecember 21, 1967 · 191 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.334 km S of Iquique, ChileFebruary 23, 1933 · 159 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2Near the coast of Tarapaca, ChileOctober 4, 1940 · 197 km W of this epicenter
- 7.278 km SW of Colchani, BoliviaOctober 4, 1910 · 119 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 46 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 · 212 km away · intensity XI
2,385 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 2005M7.7
Tarapaca
13 Jun 2005 · 92 km away
11 deaths$5 million damage
- 1987M6.9
Arica, Iquique
8 Aug 1987 · 227 km away · intensity VII
5 deaths$1 million damage
- 1953M7.4
Northern
7 Dec 1953 · 161 km away
3 deaths$7 million damage
- 2007M7.7
Tocopilla, Maria Elena
14 Nov 2007 · 218 km away · intensity VIII
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1967M7.5
Northern
21 Dec 1967 · 145 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.