Chile earthquakes

M4.7 earthquake 29 km W of Illapel, Chile

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 29 km W of Illapel, Chile on Tue, Dec 1, 2015, 4:26 AM GMT-3 (07:26 UTC), 40 km (25 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.6 57 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile. This one was a foreshock.

Illapel forecast More in Chile

Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 4.7 (Mwr, regional moment), light
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Tue, Dec 1, 2015, 4:26 AM GMT-3
UTC: 2015-12-01 07:26:14 UTC
Depth: 40.2 km (25.0 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 31.601° S, 71.483° W
Region: Chile
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Felt (V) at Illapel and Salamanca; (IV) at Andacollo, Canela, Combarbala, Coquimbo, Los Vilos and Monte Patria; (III) at Hurtado, La Serena, Ovalle, Punitaqui, Vicuna, Valparaiso and Zapallar. Also felt at Paiguano.

From the USGS event page for us100042dx. 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: Reverse (thrust)
Moment magnitude: 4.7 Mwr
Nodal plane 1: Strike 2°, dip 26°, rake 100°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 171°, dip 64°, rake 85°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 6.3 km horizontally, 5.2 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.05
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 80°
Stations used: 92

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.7 and up: 39 in the 60 days after this one and 32 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Chile earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us100042dx. Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 8:10 PM UTC.