Chile earthquakes

M4.8 earthquake 102 km NW of Vallenar, Chile

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 102 km NW of Vallenar, Chile on Tue, Sep 1, 2020, 11:04 PM GMT-4 (03:04 UTC), 15 km (10 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M4.9 55 km W of Copiapó, Chile. This one was a foreshock.

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: 4.8 (Mwr, regional moment), light
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Tue, Sep 1, 2020, 11:04 PM GMT-4
UTC: 2020-09-02 03:04:27 UTC
Depth: 15.3 km (9.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 27.878° S, 71.450° W
Region: Chile
Felt reports: 1
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
4.8	Mwr, regional moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.046 · 45 stations
5.08	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1

Did you feel it?

1 person reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was I, not felt 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 12°, dip 17°, rake 105°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 177°, dip 74°, rake 86°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 4.3 km horizontally, 3.4 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.05
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 141°
Stations used: 110

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.8 and up: 29 in the 60 days after this one and 32 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 us7000bga9 (also filed as iscgem618950110). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 1:49 PM UTC.