M4.5 earthquake 102 km WNW of Illapel, Chile
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 102 km WNW of Illapel, Chile on Thu, Dec 24, 2020, 11:15 AM GMT-3 (14:15 UTC), 21 km (13 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.1 51 km SSW of Ovalle, Chile. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.5 (Mwr, regional moment), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2020-12-24 14:15:20 UTC
- Depth
- 21.0 km (13.1 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 31.358° S, 72.199° 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 II, weak shaking.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Strike-slip
- Moment magnitude
- 4.5 Mwr
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 65°, dip 61°, rake 180°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 156°, dip 90°, rake 29°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 5.0 km horizontally, 5.3 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.04
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 79°
- Stations used
- 44
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.254 km W of Ovalle, Chile · 2105 days ago · 36 km deep · 85 km away · felt by 3
- 4.490 km WNW of La Ligua, Chile · 2102 days ago · 10 km deep · 75 km away
- 4.531 km SSW of Ovalle, Chile · 2098 days ago · 38 km deep · 98 km away
- 4.443 km WSW of Illapel, Chile · 2094 days ago · 29 km deep · 81 km away
- 5.151 km SSW of Ovalle, Chile · 2085 days ago · 59 km deep · 85 km away · felt by 17
- 4.638 km WSW of Illapel, Chile · 2084 days ago · 49 km deep · 82 km away · felt by 2
- 3.854 km W of Ovalle, Chile · 2078 days ago · 30 km deep · 95 km away
- 5.116 km SW of Illapel, Chile · 2060 days ago · 51 km deep · 97 km away · felt by 62
- 4.363 km SW of Illapel, Chile · 2054 days ago · 22 km deep · 83 km away · felt by 1
Before
Earthquakes todayChile earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us6000d2kd. Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 1:30 PM UTC.