M4.8 earthquake 102 km WSW of Vallenar, Chile
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 102 km WSW of Vallenar, Chile on Fri, Apr 3, 2020, 5:48 AM GMT-3 (08:48 UTC), 50 km (31 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.9 32 km NNW of La Serena, Chile. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.8 (Mwr, regional moment), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2020-04-03 08:48:00 UTC
- Depth
- 49.6 km (30.9 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 29.049° S, 71.656° W
- Region
- Chile
- Felt reports
- 2
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
2 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was III, weak 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
- 4.8 Mwr
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 191°, dip 79°, rake 93°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 356°, dip 11°, rake 75°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 6.7 km horizontally, 5.9 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.05
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 97°
- Stations used
- 66
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.8 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.458 km NW of Coquimbo, Chile · 2370 days ago · 45 km deep · 55 km away · felt by 2
- 4.932 km NNW of La Serena, Chile · 2340 days ago · 71 km deep · 70 km away · felt by 15
- 4.581 km SW of Vallenar, Chile · 2316 days ago · 63 km deep · 39 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayChile earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us70008mgj. Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 10:05 PM UTC.