M3.8 earthquake 30 km N of La Serena, Chile
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck 30 km N of La Serena, Chile on Thu, May 13, 2021, 8:40 PM GMT-4 (00:40 UTC), 36 km (22 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.8 7 km SW of Vicuña, Chile. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 3.8 (mb, body-wave), minor
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2021-05-14 00:40:20 UTC
- Depth
- 35.9 km (22.3 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 29.628° S, 71.250° W
- Region
- Chile
- Felt reports
- 6
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
6 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was III, weak shaking.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 4.2 km horizontally, 9.9 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.21
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 171°
- Stations used
- 33
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
- 4.87 km SW of Vicuña, Chile · 1944 days ago · 81 km deep · 68 km away · felt by 2
- 4.333 km SSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 1930 days ago · 54 km deep · 71 km away · felt by 1
- 4.264 km WSW of Coquimbo, Chile · 1920 days ago · 35 km deep · 90 km away
- 4.586 km WSW of Vallenar, Chile · 1918 days ago · 10 km deep · 99 km away
- 4.490 km WSW of Vallenar, Chile · 1913 days ago · 10 km deep · 98 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayChile earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us7000e2xz. Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 9:04 AM UTC.