Chile earthquakes

M4.2 earthquake 104 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 104 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile on Sun, May 16, 2021, 10:10 AM GMT-4 (14:10 UTC), 6 km (4 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M4.6 50 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile. This one was a foreshock.

Coquimbo forecastMore in Chile

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
4.2 (Mwr, regional moment), light
Magnitude from
USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time
UTC
2021-05-16 14:10:51 UTC
Depth
5.8 km (3.6 mi), shallow
Epicenter
30.399° S, 72.296° 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 I, not felt shaking.

Did You Feel It? map: shaking reported by the public
Shaking reported by the public, by area. Map: USGS Did You Feel It?

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
4.2 Mwr
Nodal plane 1
Strike 171°, dip 55°, rake 75°
Nodal plane 2
Strike 17°, dip 38°, rake 111°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty
About 4.4 km horizontally, 5.4 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty
±0.04
Depth from
From location
Station coverage gap
138°
Stations used
31

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 4.452 km W of Ovalle, Chile · 1966 days ago · 17 km deep · 56 km away
  2. 4.343 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile · 1956 days ago · 41 km deep · 70 km away · felt by 1
  3. 4.444 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile · 1946 days ago · 25 km deep · 69 km away
  4. 4.044 km W of Ovalle, Chile · 1940 days ago · 31 km deep · 65 km away
  5. 4.333 km SSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 1930 days ago · 54 km deep · 84 km away · felt by 1
  6. 4.650 km WSW of Ovalle, Chile · 1929 days ago · 29 km deep · 80 km away · felt by 1
  7. 4.264 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 1920 days ago · 35 km deep · 42 km away

Before

  1. 4.330 km SW of Coquimbo, Chile · 1981 days ago · 36 km deep · 75 km away · felt by 1
  2. 5.831 km SW of Coquimbo, Chile · 1981 days ago · 33 km deep · 74 km away · felt by 52
  3. 4.985 km W of Ovalle, Chile · 1996 days ago · 10 km deep · 22 km away · felt by 11

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000e3k4. Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 1:37 PM UTC.