M5.4 earthquake 40 km ENE of Iquique, Chile
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 40 km ENE of Iquique, Chile on Sat, Dec 23, 1978, 9:02 PM GMT-3 (00:02 UTC), 48 km (30 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.4 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-12-24 00:02:01 UTC
- Depth
- 48.0 km (29.8 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 20.024° S, 69.815° 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.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Stations used
- 100
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayChile earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000y2n (also filed as gcmtb122478a, gcmt19781224000201, iscgem672923). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 7:17 AM UTC.