M4.2 earthquake 37 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 37 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile on Wed, Sep 6, 2017, 2:45 AM GMT-3 (05:45 UTC), 49 km (30 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.4 86 km WSW of Coquimbo, 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
- 2017-09-06 05:45:36 UTC
- Depth
- 48.9 km (30.4 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 30.759° S, 71.547° W
- Region
- Chile
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
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
- 4.2 Mwr
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 12°, dip 23°, rake 112°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 168°, dip 69°, rake 81°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 8.3 km horizontally, 4.2 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.04
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 186°, poorly surrounded by stations
- Stations used
- 42
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 14 in the 60 days after this one and 5 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.486 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 3296 days ago · 17 km deep · 71 km away
- 4.427 km SW of Coquimbo, Chile · 3289 days ago · 37 km deep · 73 km away · felt by 5
- 4.435 km W of Coquimbo, Chile · 3285 days ago · 24 km deep · 92 km away
- 4.221 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile · 3280 days ago · 43 km deep · 16 km away
- 3.98 km NNW of Coquimbo, Chile · 3279 days ago · 51 km deep · 99 km away
- 4.46 km SSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 3275 days ago · 51 km deep · 85 km away · felt by 8
- 4.178 km SW of Ovalle, Chile · 3272 days ago · 21 km deep · 43 km away · felt by 3
- 4.411 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile · 3265 days ago · 50 km deep · 26 km away
- 4.3101 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 3262 days ago · 8 km deep · 84 km away · felt by 2
- 4.093 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 3259 days ago · 10 km deep · 77 km away
- 4.271 km W of Ovalle, Chile · 3257 days ago · 18 km deep · 44 km away
- 4.356 km SSW of Ovalle, Chile · 3255 days ago · 57 km deep · 31 km away · felt by 2
- 4.236 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile · 3252 days ago · 43 km deep · 5 km away
- 4.257 km SW of Ovalle, Chile · 3251 days ago · 56 km deep · 29 km away
Before
- 4.324 km W of Illapel, Chile · 3331 days ago · 48 km deep · 98 km away
- 4.258 km WNW of Illapel, Chile · 3331 days ago · 22 km deep · 80 km away · felt by 4
- 4.393 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 3333 days ago · 8 km deep · 82 km away
- 5.885 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 3333 days ago · 9 km deep · 82 km away · felt by 6
- 4.346 km WNW of Ovalle, Chile · 3333 days ago · 32 km deep · 38 km away
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us2000agkl. Read Sun, Sep 27, 2026, 4:22 PM UTC.