Chile earthquakes

M4.9 earthquake 87 km WNW of Iquique, Chile

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 87 km WNW of Iquique, Chile on Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 3:24 PM GMT-3 (18:24 UTC), 13 km (8 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: 4.9 (Mww, W-phase moment), light
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Wed, Sep 16, 2015, 3:24 PM GMT-3
UTC: 2015-09-16 18:24:21 UTC
Depth: 12.8 km (7.9 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 19.971° S, 70.943° 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
4.96	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
4.8	Mwr, regional moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed

What happened

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

Felt (IV) at Pozo Almonte; (III) at Alto Hospicio, Huara, Iquique and La Tirana; (II) at Pica.

From the USGS event page for us20003k2k. 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 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: Reverse (thrust)
Moment magnitude: 4.9 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 152°, dip 64°, rake 79°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 356°, dip 28°, rake 111°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 1.9 km horizontally, 3.7 km in depth
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 112°
Stations used: 81

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 10 in the 60 days after this one and 8 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 us20003k2k (also filed as gcmt20150916182421, iscgem607742370). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 1:06 PM UTC.