Chile earthquakes

M4.4 earthquake 56 km W of Ovalle, Chile

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 56 km W of Ovalle, Chile on Sat, Dec 15, 2018, 9:04 PM GMT-3 (00:04 UTC), 29 km (18 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.7 10 km SSW of Coquimbo, Chile. This one was a foreshock.

Ovalle forecastMore in Chile

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
4.4 (mwr), light
Local time
UTC
2018-12-16 00:04:13 UTC
Depth
28.9 km (18.0 mi), shallow
Epicenter
30.663° S, 71.788° 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 III, weak shaking.

Did You Feel It? map: shaking reported by the public
Shaking reported by the public, by area. Map: USGS Did You Feel It?

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
4.4 Mwr
Nodal plane 1
Strike 168°, dip 79°, rake 90°
Nodal plane 2
Strike 351°, dip 11°, rake 92°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty
About 5.4 km horizontally, 4.2 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty
±0.04
Depth from
From location
Station coverage gap
88°
Stations used
85

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 16 in the 60 days after this one and 7 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 4.671 km W of Coquimbo, Chile · 2830 days ago · 41 km deep · 95 km away
  2. 4.785 km W of Coquimbo, Chile · 2821 days ago · 10 km deep · 87 km away
  3. 4.642 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile · 2809 days ago · 62 km deep · 24 km away · felt by 1
  4. 6.710 km SSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 2808 days ago · 63 km deep · 79 km away · felt by 790 · PAGER orange · tsunami flag
  5. 4.315 km SSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 2808 days ago · 59 km deep · 75 km away · felt by 4
  6. 4.416 km S of Coquimbo, Chile · 2808 days ago · 61 km deep · 75 km away
  7. 4.020 km S of Coquimbo, Chile · 2808 days ago · 63 km deep · 71 km away
  8. 4.563 km W of Coquimbo, Chile · 2808 days ago · 17 km deep · 89 km away · felt by 7
  9. 4.620 km SW of Coquimbo, Chile · 2806 days ago · 50 km deep · 70 km away · felt by 5
  10. 4.840 km SW of Coquimbo, Chile · 2806 days ago · 44 km deep · 51 km away
  11. 4.830 km SW of Coquimbo, Chile · 2805 days ago · 47 km deep · 62 km away · felt by 2
  12. 5.118 km S of Coquimbo, Chile · 2804 days ago · 58 km deep · 72 km away · felt by 19
  13. 4.629 km SSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 2803 days ago · 64 km deep · 60 km away · felt by 2
  14. 4.421 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 2802 days ago · 58 km deep · 72 km away
  15. 4.411 km SSE of Ovalle, Chile · 2798 days ago · 74 km deep · 60 km away
  16. 4.867 km WNW of Illapel, Chile · 2794 days ago · 27 km deep · 78 km away · felt by 2

Before

  1. 4.317 km WNW of Ovalle, Chile · 2847 days ago · 55 km deep · 41 km away
  2. 4.249 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile · 2851 days ago · 39 km deep · 15 km away · felt by 2
  3. 4.825 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile · 2853 days ago · 32 km deep · 36 km away · felt by 2
  4. 4.565 km W of Ovalle, Chile · 2857 days ago · 24 km deep · 9 km away
  5. 4.244 km W of Ovalle, Chile · 2858 days ago · 49 km deep · 12 km away
  6. 4.354 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile · 2867 days ago · 24 km deep · 18 km away
  7. 4.211 km NNW of Coquimbo, Chile · 2869 days ago · 38 km deep · 98 km away · felt by 3

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us2000ityn. Read Mon, Sep 28, 2026, 1:37 AM UTC.