Chile earthquakes

M6.8 earthquake 86 km NW of Vallenar, Chile

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 86 km NW of Vallenar, Chile on Tue, Sep 1, 2020, 12:09 AM GMT-4 (04:09 UTC), 21 km (13 mi) below the surface.

Vallenar 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: 6.8 (Mww, W-phase moment), strong
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Tue, Sep 1, 2020, 12:09 AM GMT-4
UTC: 2020-09-01 04:09:28 UTC
Depth: 21.0 km (13.0 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 27.969° S, 71.306° W
Region: Chile
Felt reports: 204
Strongest shaking: VII, very strong shaking
PAGER alert: Green
Tsunami flag: Yes: a large quake in an oceanic region
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
6.8	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.039 · 62 stations
6.86	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
6.8	Mi	NOAA National Tsunami Warning Center	Reviewed · 12 stations
6.8	Mi	NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center	Reviewed · 20 stations
6.8	Mwb, body-wave moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed
6.77	Mw, moment	USGS finite-fault model	Finite-fault model · Reviewed

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Some buildings damaged and small landslides occurred in Atacama.

From the USGS event page for us7000bfjr. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Tsunami

The USGS flags a quake this large in an oceanic region. The flag does not mean a tsunami happened; the tsunami warning centers decide that, and their messages are below when they issued any.

Current tsunami warnings: tsunami.gov. Warnings in force in the US also appear on our alerts pages.

Shaking

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

Strongest estimated: VII, very strong shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 35.2% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 3.0 cm/s
Map: Automatic

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

Did you feel it?

204 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was VI, strong 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	95%
1 to 10	5%
10 to 100	Under 1%
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: Reverse (thrust)
Moment magnitude: 6.8 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 13°, dip 20°, rake 109°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 173°, dip 71°, rake 83°
Landslide alert: Green
Liquefaction alert: Green

Rupture model

How far the rock on each part of the fault slid, from a model fitted to seismic waves recorded around the world.

USGS finite-fault model: slip on the fault plane, in meters — Slip on the fault plane, in meters, from the USGS finite-fault model (moment magnitude 6.77). Model: USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 5.5 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.04
Depth from: From modeling of broad-band P waveforms
Station coverage gap: 69°
Stations used: 198

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 3.8 and up: 59 in the 60 days after this one and 2 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 us7000bfjr (also filed as at00qfyovo, pt20245000, iscgem618938653). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 10:55 PM UTC.