Chile earthquakes

M5.0 earthquake 1 km NW of Illapel, Chile

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 1 km NW of Illapel, Chile on Sat, Sep 22, 1973, 5:35 AM GMT-4 (09:35 UTC), 39 km (24 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.2 58 km W of Illapel, Chile. This one was a foreshock.

Illapel forecastMore in Chile

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
5.0 (mb), moderate
Local time
UTC
1973-09-22 09:35:38 UTC
Depth
39.0 km (24.2 mi), shallow
Epicenter
31.624° S, 71.184° W
Region
Chile
Tsunami flag
No
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Stations used
33

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 5.049 km W of Illapel, Chile · 19352 days ago · 46 km deep · 48 km away
  2. 4.455 km W of Illapel, Chile · 19352 days ago · 33 km deep · 54 km away
  3. 3.952 km W of Illapel, Chile · 19352 days ago · 50 km deep · 51 km away
  4. 4.151 km WNW of Illapel, Chile · 19352 days ago · 33 km deep · 50 km away
  5. 3.996 km W of Illapel, Chile · 19352 days ago · 33 km deep · 95 km away
  6. 5.258 km W of Illapel, Chile · 19349 days ago · 39 km deep · 57 km away
  7. 4.786 km WSW of Illapel, Chile · 19348 days ago · 46 km deep · 85 km away
  8. 4.580 km WSW of Illapel, Chile · 19346 days ago · 69 km deep · 80 km away
  9. 4.634 km SW of Salamanca, Chile · 19311 days ago · 97 km deep · 40 km away

Before

  1. 4.627 km NNE of La Ligua, Chile · 19393 days ago · 72 km deep · 67 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00003gw (also filed as iscgem756592). Read Wed, Sep 30, 2026, 12:39 PM UTC.