Chile earthquakes

M6.6 earthquake 22 km WSW of Illapel, Chile

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 22 km WSW of Illapel, Chile on Mon, Sep 21, 2015, 2:40 PM GMT-3 (17:40 UTC), 35 km (22 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.8 39 km SW 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: 6.6 (mww), strong
Local time: Mon, Sep 21, 2015, 2:40 PM GMT-3
UTC: 2015-09-21 17:40:00 UTC
Depth: 35.0 km (21.7 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 31.727° S, 71.379° W
Region: Chile
Felt reports: 283
Strongest shaking: VII, very strong shaking
PAGER alert: Green
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: VII, very strong shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 23.6% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 2.6 cm/s
Map: Automatic

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

Did you feel it?

283 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was V, moderate 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: Green: little or no damage or loss of life expected

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: 6.6 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 171°, dip 62°, rake 82°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 9°, dip 29°, rake 105°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 6.0 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
Depth from: Operator assigned
Station coverage gap: 14°
Stations used: 853

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 144 in the 60 days after this one and 55 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 144.

Before

Earthquakes today Chile earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us20003mi0 (also filed as pt15264051, at00nv1fqm, gcmt20150921174000, iscgem607860433, atlas20150921174000). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 5:02 AM UTC.