M4.9 earthquake 115 km ENE of Iquique, Chile
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 115 km ENE of Iquique, Chile on Thu, Dec 30, 2021, 1:37 PM GMT-3 (16:37 UTC), 102 km (63 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.5 122 km SE of Arica, Chile. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.9 (Mwr, regional moment), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2021-12-30 16:37:35 UTC
- Depth
- 102.1 km (63.4 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 19.645° S, 69.226° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.9 | Mwr, regional moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.05 · 39 stations |
| 5.01 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
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
- Normal
- Moment magnitude
- 4.9 Mwr
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 354°, dip 67°, rake -78°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 146°, dip 25°, rake -116°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 5.1 km horizontally, 3.9 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.05
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 60°
- Stations used
- 125
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.193 km NNE of Iquique, Chile · 1737 days ago · 73 km deep · 81 km away
- 4.4114 km ENE of Iquique, Chile · 1719 days ago · 120 km deep · 22 km away · felt by 3
- 4.3115 km ENE of Iquique, Chile · 1719 days ago · 104 km deep · 1 km away · felt by 2
- 4.7127 km ENE of Iquique, Chile · 1712 days ago · 105 km deep · 13 km away · felt by 14
- 5.5122 km SE of Arica, Chile · 1710 days ago · 91 km deep · 58 km away · felt by 25
- 4.2122 km NE of Iquique, Chile · 1704 days ago · 112 km deep · 38 km away · felt by 1
- 4.0118 km ESE of Iquique, Chile · 1702 days ago · 106 km deep · 92 km away · felt by 1
- 4.1106 km ESE of Iquique, Chile · 1681 days ago · 94 km deep · 94 km away · felt by 5
Before
Earthquakes todayChile earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000g805 (also filed as iscgem621657534). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 8:32 PM UTC.