Chile earthquakes

M8.3 earthquake 48 km W of Illapel, Chile

A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck 48 km W of Illapel, Chile on Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 7:54 PM GMT-3 (22:54 UTC), 22 km (14 mi) below the surface.

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Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 8.3 (mww), great
Local time: Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 7:54 PM GMT-3
UTC: 2015-09-16 22:54:32 UTC
Depth: 22.4 km (13.9 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 31.573° S, 71.674° W
Region: Chile
Felt reports: 1,216
Strongest shaking: VIII, severe shaking
PAGER alert: Orange
Tsunami flag: Yes: a large quake in an oceanic region
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Tsunami

The USGS flags a quake this large in an oceanic region. The flag does not mean a tsunami happened; the tsunami warning centers decide that, and their messages are below when they issued any.

Current tsunami warnings: tsunami.gov. Warnings in force in the US also appear on our alerts pages.

Shaking

The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.

Strongest estimated: VIII, severe shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 55.2% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 3.9 cm/s
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

Did you feel it?

1,216 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was IX, violent shaking.

Estimated impact

The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.

Alert level: Orange: significant damage and deaths likely, a national response

Deaths: estimated chance of each range
Range	Chance
Under 1	Under 1%
1 to 10	14%
10 to 100	45%
100 to 1,000	34%
1,000 to 10,000	6%
10,000 to 100,000	Under 1%
100,000 to 10,000,000	Under 1%

Economic losses: estimated chance of each range
Range, million USD	Chance
Under 1	Under 1%
1 to 10	Under 1%
10 to 100	10%
100 to 1,000	39%
1,000 to 10,000	39%
10,000 to 100,000	10%
100,000 to 10,000,000	Under 1%

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: 8.3 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 180°, dip 71°, rake 92°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 353°, dip 19°, rake 83°
Landslide alert: Orange
Liquefaction alert: Yellow

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 4.7 km horizontally, 3.2 km in depth
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 19°
Stations used: 379

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 200 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 200.

Earthquakes today Chile earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us20003k7a (also filed as at00nuskyv, pt15259054, gcmt20150916225433, iscgem611531714, atlas20150916225432). Read Mon, Sep 21, 2026, 3:40 PM UTC.