M4.8 earthquake 44 km NW of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 44 km NW of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile on Thu, Mar 31, 2016, 4:53 AM GMT-3 (07:53 UTC), 96 km (59 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.8 (Mww, W-phase moment), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2016-03-31 07:53:28 UTC
- Depth
- 95.7 km (59.5 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 22.658° S, 68.534° W
- Region
- Chile
- Felt reports
- 2
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.8 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 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 (V) at Calama, (IV) at San Pedro de Atacama and (III) at Toconao.
From the USGS event page for us20005dm3. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Did you feel it?
2 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was III, weak shaking.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Oblique normal
- Moment magnitude
- 4.8 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 26°, dip 69°, rake -47°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 138°, dip 46°, rake -150°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 6.5 km horizontally, 4.3 km in depth
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 33°
- Stations used
- 190
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.8 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.220 km NNE of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile · 3833 days ago · 109 km deep · 45 km away
- 4.442 km NE of Calama, Chile · 3826 days ago · 119 km deep · 56 km away
- 4.147 km NE of Calama, Chile · 3810 days ago · 107 km deep · 50 km away
Before
- 3.747 km SE of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile · 3854 days ago · 170 km deep · 92 km away
- 4.575 km NE of Calama, Chile · 3855 days ago · 121 km deep · 83 km away
- 4.221 km NE of Calama, Chile · 3857 days ago · 128 km deep · 43 km away
- 4.861 km WSW of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile · 3859 days ago · 86 km deep · 56 km away · felt by 1
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us20005dm3. Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 9:31 PM UTC.