Chile earthquakes

M5.1 earthquake 26 km NW of Ovalle, Chile

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 26 km NW of Ovalle, Chile on Mon, Mar 13, 2017, 12:05 PM GMT-3 (15:05 UTC), 46 km (29 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.4 55 km SW of Ovalle, Chile. This one was a foreshock.

Ovalle 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: 5.1 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Mon, Mar 13, 2017, 12:05 PM GMT-3
UTC: 2017-03-13 15:05:56 UTC
Depth: 46.3 km (28.8 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 30.432° S, 71.395° W
Region: Chile
Felt reports: 24
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
5.1	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.068 · 21 stations
5.14	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.1	Mwr, regional moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed

Did you feel it?

24 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was V, moderate 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: 5.1 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 355°, dip 43°, rake 94°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 170°, dip 47°, rake 86°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 5.8 km horizontally, 3.7 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.07
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 65°
Stations used: 111

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 8 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 us100088n2 (also filed as iscgem610327080). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 3:11 AM UTC.