M3.7 earthquake 81 km W of Vallenar, Chile
A magnitude 3.7 earthquake struck 81 km W of Vallenar, Chile on Wed, Dec 15, 2021, 12:05 AM GMT-3 (03:05 UTC), 36 km (23 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.2 39 km S of Vallenar, Chile. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 3.7 (Mwr, regional moment), minor
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2021-12-15 03:05:30 UTC
- Depth
- 36.3 km (22.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 28.651° S, 71.589° W
- Region
- Chile
- Felt reports
- 2
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
2 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was II, weak shaking.
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
- 3.7 Mwr
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 2°, dip 63°, rake 102°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 157°, dip 29°, rake 68°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 6.2 km horizontally, 1.7 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.07
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 172°
- Stations used
- 32
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
Before
Earthquakes todayChile earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us6000gcbl. Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 11:36 PM UTC.