Chile earthquakes

M5.6 earthquake 32 km NNE of Calama, Chile

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 32 km NNE of Calama, Chile on Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 8:53 AM GMT-3 (11:53 UTC), 117 km (73 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.7 67 km NNE of Calama, Chile. This one was a foreshock.

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: 5.6 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Mon, Sep 30, 2019, 8:53 AM GMT-3
UTC: 2019-09-30 11:53:22 UTC
Depth: 117.0 km (72.7 mi), intermediate-depth
Epicenter: 22.191° S, 68.799° W
Region: Chile
Felt reports: 11
Strongest shaking: IV, light shaking
PAGER alert: Green
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
5.6	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.043 · 51 stations
5.6	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.6	Mwb, body-wave moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed
5.6	Mwr, regional moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed

Shaking

The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.

Strongest estimated: IV, light shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 1.8% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: -0.1 cm/s
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

Did you feel it?

11 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was IV, light shaking.

Estimated impact

The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.

Alert level: Green: little or no damage or loss of life expected

Deaths: estimated chance of each range
Range	Chance
Under 1	65%
1 to 10	30%
10 to 100	4%
100 to 1,000	Under 1%
1,000 to 10,000	Under 1%
10,000 to 100,000	Under 1%
100,000 to 10,000,000	Under 1%

Economic losses: estimated chance of each range
Range, million USD	Chance
Under 1	65%
1 to 10	30%
10 to 100	4%
100 to 1,000	Under 1%
1,000 to 10,000	Under 1%
10,000 to 100,000	Under 1%
100,000 to 10,000,000	Under 1%

Fault motion and ground failure

How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.

Faulting: Normal
Moment magnitude: 5.6 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 174°, dip 22°, rake -113°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 19°, dip 70°, rake -81°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 4.6 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.04
Depth from: From modeling of broad-band P waveforms
Station coverage gap: 36°
Stations used: 111

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.6 and up: 8 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 us70005nud (also filed as iscgem616602775). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 3:20 AM UTC.