Chile earthquakes

M5.2 earthquake 28 km NW of Coquimbo, Chile

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 28 km NW of Coquimbo, Chile on Sat, Mar 16, 2019, 3:06 PM GMT-3 (18:06 UTC), 41 km (25 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.6 68 km NNW of La Serena, Chile. This one was a foreshock.

Coquimbo 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: 5.2 (Mww, W-phase moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Sat, Mar 16, 2019, 3:06 PM GMT-3
UTC: 2019-03-16 18:06:15 UTC
Depth: 41.0 km (25.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 29.772° S, 71.555° W
Region: Chile
Felt reports: 12
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
5.2	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.069 · 20 stations
5.24	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.2	Mwr, regional moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed

Did you feel it?

12 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: 5.2 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 163°, dip 22°, rake 67°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 7°, dip 70°, rake 99°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 4.9 km horizontally, 1.9 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.07
Depth from: From modeling of broad-band P waveforms
Station coverage gap: 52°
Stations used: 138

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 11 in the 60 days after this one and 12 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 us1000jh4d (also filed as iscgem615225068). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 2:32 PM UTC.