Chile earthquakes

M5.2 earthquake 87 km NE of Calama, Chile

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 87 km NE of Calama, Chile on Sat, Aug 7, 2021, 2:31 PM GMT-4 (18:31 UTC), 137 km (85 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.3 94 km NE of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. This one was a foreshock.

Calama 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, Aug 7, 2021, 2:31 PM GMT-4
UTC: 2021-08-07 18:31:04 UTC
Depth: 136.9 km (85.1 mi), intermediate-depth
Epicenter: 21.843° S, 68.388° W
Region: Chile
Felt reports: 8
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 · ±0.062 · 25 stations
5.2	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.2	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS, automatic first solution	First automatic solution · Confirmed

Did you feel it?

8 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: Strike-slip
Moment magnitude: 5.2 Mww
Nodal plane 1: Strike 111°, dip 17°, rake 180°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 201°, dip 90°, rake 73°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 6.0 km horizontally, 3.9 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.06
Depth from: From location
Station coverage gap: 41°
Stations used: 170

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 15 in the 60 days after this one and 8 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 us6000f37h (also filed as usauto6000f37h, iscgem620976242). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 8:23 PM UTC.