M4.7 earthquake 126 km ESE of Iquique, Chile
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 126 km ESE of Iquique, Chile on Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 1:43 AM GMT-3 (04:43 UTC), 104 km (65 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.8 135 km E of Iquique, Chile. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.7 (Mww, W-phase moment), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2014-12-16 04:43:47 UTC
- Depth
- 104.2 km (64.7 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 20.473° S, 68.970° W
- Region
- Chile
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Magnitude estimates
Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.7 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 4.7 | Mwr, regional moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Moment tensor · Reviewed |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt (IV) at Alto Hospicio and Iquique; (III) at Camina, Huara, La Tirana and Pica; (II) at Cuya and Quillagua.
From the USGS event page for usc000t78m. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Normal
- Moment magnitude
- 4.7 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 342°, dip 74°, rake -100°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 197°, dip 19°, rake -56°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 5.3 km horizontally, 4.9 km in depth
- Depth from
- FROM_LOCATION
- Station coverage gap
- 56°
- Stations used
- 55
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.7 and up: 13 in the 60 days after this one and 6 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.2123 km ESE of Iquique, Chile · 4308 days ago · 108 km deep · 44 km away
- 3.8120 km N of Calama, Chile · 4307 days ago · 110 km deep · 100 km away
- 4.8135 km E of Iquique, Chile · 4307 days ago · 103 km deep · 15 km away · felt by 1
- 4.5162 km N of Calama, Chile · 4306 days ago · 126 km deep · 67 km away
- 4.8143 km ENE of Iquique, Chile · 4296 days ago · 112 km deep · 72 km away · felt by 3
- 4.8126 km E of Iquique, Chile · 4284 days ago · 107 km deep · 8 km away · felt by 1
- 4.2140 km ESE of Iquique, Chile · 4282 days ago · 104 km deep · 14 km away
- 3.940 km SE of Iquique, Chile · 4273 days ago · 75 km deep · 95 km away
- 4.0111 km ENE of Iquique, Chile · 4272 days ago · 98 km deep · 68 km away
- 4.4141 km N of Calama, Chile · 4269 days ago · 123 km deep · 83 km away
- 4.174 km ENE of Iquique, Chile · 4259 days ago · 86 km deep · 81 km away
- 4.3127 km NE of Tocopilla, Chile · 4258 days ago · 75 km deep · 93 km away
- 4.1101 km ENE of Iquique, Chile · 4252 days ago · 102 km deep · 92 km away
Before
- 4.3Chile-Bolivia border region · 4311 days ago · 100 km deep · 27 km away
- 4.0127 km N of Calama, Chile · 4323 days ago · 125 km deep · 94 km away
- 4.9146 km ESE of Iquique, Chile · 4329 days ago · 116 km deep · 21 km away
- 4.696 km E of Iquique, Chile · 4330 days ago · 98 km deep · 51 km away · felt by 3
- 4.1132 km ESE of Iquique, Chile · 4332 days ago · 107 km deep · 46 km away
- 4.1140 km N of Calama, Chile · 4338 days ago · 112 km deep · 82 km away
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usc000t78m. Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 7:51 PM UTC.