M6.1 earthquake 22 km NW of Tocopilla, Chile
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 22 km NW of Tocopilla, Chile on Thu, Jul 28, 2022, 12:15 AM GMT-4 (04:15 UTC), 54 km (34 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.1 (Mww, W-phase moment), strong
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2022-07-28 04:15:03 UTC
- Depth
- 54.0 km (33.6 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 21.931° S, 70.339° W
- Region
- Chile
- Felt reports
- 57
- Strongest shaking
- VII, very strong shaking
- PAGER alert
- Green
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.036 · 73 stations |
| 5.9 | Mi | NOAA National Tsunami Warning Center | First automatic solution · Reviewed · 15 stations |
| 6.0 | Mi | NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center | First automatic solution · Reviewed · 13 stations |
| 6.1 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Moment tensor · Reviewed |
| 6.2 | Mwb, body-wave moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Moment tensor · Reviewed |
| 6.1 | Mwr, regional moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Moment tensor · Reviewed |
| 6.2 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS, automatic first solution | First automatic solution · Confirmed |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
One person injured, 2 buildings damaged and power outages ocurred at Tocopilla.
From the USGS event page for us6000i636. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VII, very strong shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 13.8% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 5.8 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
57 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was VII, very strong shaking.
Estimated impact
The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.
- Alert level
- Green: little or no damage or loss of life expected
| Range | Chance |
|---|---|
| Under 1 | 65% |
| 1 to 10 | 30% |
| 10 to 100 | 4% |
| 100 to 1,000 | Under 1% |
| 1,000 to 10,000 | Under 1% |
| 10,000 to 100,000 | Under 1% |
| 100,000 to 10,000,000 | Under 1% |
| Range, million USD | Chance |
|---|---|
| Under 1 | 53% |
| 1 to 10 | 41% |
| 10 to 100 | 5% |
| 100 to 1,000 | Under 1% |
| 1,000 to 10,000 | Under 1% |
| 10,000 to 100,000 | Under 1% |
| 100,000 to 10,000,000 | Under 1% |
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
- 6.1 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 169°, dip 20°, rake -100°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 360°, dip 70°, rake -86°
- Landslide alert
- Green
- Liquefaction alert
- Green
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 4.6 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.04
- Depth from
- From modeling of broad-band P waveforms
- Station coverage gap
- 25°
- Stations used
- 129
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 3.1 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 2 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 us6000i636 (also filed as usauto6000i636, pt22209000, at00rfpqh4). Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 6:40 AM UTC.