Chile earthquakes

M5.9 earthquake 13 km NNW of Viña del Mar, Chile

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 13 km NNW of Viña del Mar, Chile on Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 9:14 AM GMT-3 (12:14 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.2 92 km NW of Valparaíso, Chile. This one was a foreshock.

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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: 5.9 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 9:14 AM GMT-3
UTC: 2015-09-17 12:14:34 UTC
Depth: 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 32.915° S, 71.606° W
Region: Chile
Felt reports: 1
Strongest shaking: VII, very strong shaking
PAGER alert: Green
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
5.9	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.86	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.9	Mwc, centroid moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed

What happened

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

Felt (III) at Los Vilos, Tiltil and Valparaiso; (II) at Calle Larga, El Monte, San Felipe and Santiago.

From the USGS event page for us20003kkw. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

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
Map: Automatic

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

Did you feel it?

1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was IV, light 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: 5.9 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 166°, dip 78°, rake 91°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 341°, dip 12°, rake 85°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 5.7 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
Depth from: Operator assigned
Station coverage gap: 54°
Stations used: 63

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.9 and up: 66 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 66.

Before

4.545 km WNW of La Ligua, ChileThu, Sep 17, 3:20 AM GMT-3 · 4036 days ago · 38 km deep · 67 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us20003kkw (also filed as gcmt20150917121434, gcmt20150917121435, iscgem608098265, atlas20150917121434). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 12:59 AM UTC.