Chile earthquakes

M5.0 earthquake 136 km NNE of Calama, Chile

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 136 km NNE of Calama, Chile on Sun, Dec 23, 2018, 11:19 PM GMT-3 (02:19 UTC), 115 km (71 mi) below the surface.

Calama 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: 5.0 (Mwr, regional moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Sun, Dec 23, 2018, 11:19 PM GMT-3
UTC: 2018-12-24 02:19:29 UTC
Depth: 114.5 km (71.2 mi), intermediate-depth
Epicenter: 21.405° S, 68.228° 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
5.0	Mwr, regional moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.06 · 27 stations
5.23	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1

Did you feel it?

2 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was IV, light 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: 5.0 Mwr
Nodal plane 1: Strike 178°, dip 22°, rake -59°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 325°, dip 71°, rake -102°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 6.1 km horizontally, 3.9 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.06
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 39°
Stations used: 140

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 10 in the 60 days after this one and 6 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 us2000iwy7 (also filed as iscgem614460399). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 9:59 AM UTC.