M4.2 earthquake 172 km W of Vallenar, Chile
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 172 km W of Vallenar, Chile on Sun, Dec 25, 2016, 5:24 AM GMT-3 (08:24 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.3 92 km WSW of Vallenar, Chile. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.2 (mwr), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 2016-12-25 08:24:05 UTC
- Depth
- 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 28.369° S, 72.506° W
- Region
- Chile
- Felt reports
- 1
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was I, not felt 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
- 4.2 Mwr
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 48°, dip 28°, rake -60°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 195°, dip 66°, rake -105°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 4.6 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.05
- Depth from
- Operator assigned
- Station coverage gap
- 152°
- Stations used
- 44
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 3.977 km WNW of Vallenar, Chile · 3559 days ago · 34 km deep · 96 km away
- 4.392 km WSW of Vallenar, Chile · 3552 days ago · 7 km deep · 94 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayChile earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10007mlv. Read Wed, Sep 23, 2026, 3:38 PM UTC.