M4.9 earthquake 120 km W of Copiapó, Chile
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 120 km W of Copiapó, Chile on Sun, Mar 1, 2015, 12:48 PM GMT-3 (15:48 UTC), 11 km (7 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.2 84 km NNW 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
- 4.9 (Mww, W-phase moment), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2015-03-01 15:48:18 UTC
- Depth
- 11.1 km (6.9 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 27.267° S, 71.549° W
- Region
- Chile
- Felt reports
- 1
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.9 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.01 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt (III) at Copiapo and Tierra Amarilla; (II) at Caldera.
From the USGS event page for usc000tu6z. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Did you feel it?
1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was IV, light shaking.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Reverse (thrust)
- Moment magnitude
- 4.9 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 180°, dip 68°, rake 81°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 24°, dip 23°, rake 112°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 5.7 km horizontally, 3.8 km in depth
- Depth from
- FROM_LOCATION
- Station coverage gap
- 107°
- Stations used
- 94
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.1109 km W of Copiapó, Chile · 4232 days ago · 10 km deep · 12 km away
- 4.0108 km W of Copiapó, Chile · 4231 days ago · 10 km deep · 14 km away
- 5.284 km NNW of Vallenar, Chile · 4230 days ago · 34 km deep · 82 km away · felt by 5
- 4.677 km SW of Copiapó, Chile · 4219 days ago · 47 km deep · 93 km away · felt by 2
- 4.6118 km W of Copiapó, Chile · 4211 days ago · 17 km deep · 32 km away
- 4.283 km NNW of Vallenar, Chile · 4173 days ago · 60 km deep · 82 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayChile earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usc000tu6z (also filed as iscgem610586529). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 4:22 AM UTC.