M4.2 earthquake 50 km WNW of La Ligua, Chile
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 50 km WNW of La Ligua, Chile on Fri, Jan 29, 2021, 9:51 PM GMT-3 (00:51 UTC), 57 km (35 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.1 16 km SW of Illapel, Chile. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.2 (Mwr, regional moment), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2021-01-30 00:51:38 UTC
- Depth
- 56.7 km (35.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 32.260° S, 71.716° 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 IV, light shaking.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Oblique reverse
- Moment magnitude
- 4.2 Mwr
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 181°, dip 58°, rake 147°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 290°, dip 62°, rake 37°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 4.6 km horizontally, 5.6 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.05
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 107°
- Stations used
- 59
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.116 km SW of Illapel, Chile · 2060 days ago · 51 km deep · 70 km away · felt by 62
- 4.363 km SW of Illapel, Chile · 2055 days ago · 22 km deep · 31 km away · felt by 1
- 4.636 km WSW of Illapel, Chile · 2048 days ago · 40 km deep · 61 km away · felt by 2
- 4.1Near the coast of Valparaiso, Chile · 2031 days ago · 24 km deep · 44 km away · felt by 6
- 4.074 km WNW of La Ligua, Chile · 2016 days ago · 26 km deep · 25 km away · felt by 4
Before
Earthquakes todayChile earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us6000dd3v. Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 7:14 PM UTC.