M5.4 earthquake 32 km W of Arauco, Chile

Monday, May 3, 2010, 18:39:44 UTC · 37.232°S, 73.686°W

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 32 km W of Arauco, Chile on Monday, May 3, 2010, 18:39:44 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). USGS received 3 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of II (weak). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.0 on April 23, 2010.

Magnitude: 5.4; Moderate · mwc
Depth: 35 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 3; Max intensity II
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

2 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/8 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 4 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

75 km

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

Depth: shallow

35 km

Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.

Did You Feel It?

Where it was felt

Reports sent by people to USGS, grouped by place (most reports first). Intensity uses the Modified Mercalli scale (I–X): what people felt, not the magnitude.

Place	Intensity	Reports	Distance
Concepción, Bío Bío, Chile	II · Weak	2	80 km
Santiago, Metropolitana, Chile	I · Not felt	1	503 km

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 22 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.6 on June 1, 2010. 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 378 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 26 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 33,253 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1939M8.3
Chillan
25 Jan 1939 · 168 km away · intensity X
30,000 deaths$920 million damagetsunami
1960M9.5
Puerto Montt, Valdivia
22 May 1960 · 104 km away · intensity XII
2,226 deaths$1.0 billion damagetsunami
2010M8.8
Maule, Concepcion, Talcahuano
27 Feb 2010 · 142 km away · intensity IX
558 deaths$30 billion damagetsunami
1928M7.6
Talca, Chillan, Santiago, San Fernando
1 Dec 1928 · 291 km away · intensity IX
279 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1751M8.5
Concepcion, Chillan, Talca, Tutuben, Curico
25 May 1751 · 188 km away · intensity XI
65 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1949M7.3
Angol, Traiguen
20 Apr 1949 · 87 km away
57 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers