M4.6 earthquake 77 km SW of Copiapó, Chile
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 77 km SW of Copiapó, Chile on Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 1:03 PM GMT-3 (16:03 UTC), 47 km (29 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.7 9 km SSW of Vallenar, Chile. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.6 (Mwr, regional moment), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2015-03-14 16:03:48 UTC
- Depth
- 47.0 km (29.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 27.865° S, 70.889° W
- Region
- Chile
- Felt reports
- 2
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt (IV) at Caldera, Copiapo and Tierra Amarilla; (III) at Freirina and Vallenar. Also felt at Ovalle.
From the USGS event page for us10001mda. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Did you feel it?
2 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was II, weak shaking.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Oblique reverse
- Moment magnitude
- 4.6 Mwr
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 163°, dip 21°, rake 55°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 20°, dip 73°, rake 103°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 6.0 km horizontally, 6.0 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.06
- Stations used
- 0
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.6 and up: 4 in the 60 days after this one and 6 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.6118 km W of Copiapó, Chile · 4211 days ago · 17 km deep · 70 km away
- 4.79 km SSW of Vallenar, Chile · 4200 days ago · 45 km deep · 88 km away · felt by 1
- 4.034 km S of Copiapó, Chile · 4181 days ago · 93 km deep · 63 km away · felt by 1
- 4.283 km NNW of Vallenar, Chile · 4173 days ago · 60 km deep · 23 km away
Before
- 5.284 km NNW of Vallenar, Chile · 4230 days ago · 34 km deep · 17 km away · felt by 5
- 4.0108 km W of Copiapó, Chile · 4231 days ago · 10 km deep · 88 km away
- 4.1109 km W of Copiapó, Chile · 4231 days ago · 10 km deep · 88 km away
- 4.9120 km W of Copiapó, Chile · 4232 days ago · 11 km deep · 93 km away · felt by 1
- 4.4107 km W of Copiapó, Chile · 4233 days ago · 10 km deep · 84 km away
- 4.4108 km NW of Vallenar, Chile · 4237 days ago · 49 km deep · 55 km away · felt by 5
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10001mda. Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 3:25 AM UTC.