How frequent are earthquakes in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi)?

Q: How frequent are earthquakes in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi)?

The area where this quake occurred has a very high level of seismic activity. Based on data from the past 54 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 88 quakes on average per year in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi). It has had at least 4 quakes above magnitude 7 since 1900, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 30 to 35 years.

Strong Mag. 5.7 Earthquake - 39 Km Al SO De Taltal, Chile, on Wednesday, Oct 21, 2020, at 06:13 am (Santiago Time) -

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Moderate mag. 5.7 earthquake - 39 Km Al SO De Taltal, Chile on Wednesday, 21 October 2020 - information

A strong magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurred in the South Pacific Ocean near the coast of Antofagasta Region, Chile, in the early morning of Wednesday, Oct 21, 2020 at 6.13 am local time (America/Santiago GMT -3). The quake had a very shallow depth of 24 km (15 mi) and was reported felt by some people near the epicenter.

Strong mag. 5.7 Earthquake - 39 Km Al SO De Taltal, Chile, on Wednesday, Oct 21, 2020, at 06:13 am (Santiago time)

Strong magnitude 5.7 earthquake at 24 km depth

21 Oct 09:16 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 3 minutes.
21 Oct 09:19: Magnitude recalculated from 6.0 to 5.4. Epicenter location corrected by 29 km (18.2 mi) towards E.
... [show all] ...
21 Oct 11:20: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 30.1 to 24.4 km (from 18.7 to 15.2 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 10.2 km (6.3 mi) towards E.

Update Wed, 21 Oct 2020, 09:28

The quake has already been downgraded to around magnitude 5.5, which is ten times weaker (and less dangerous) than a magnitude 6 event. Final calculations will still take some time.

Update Wed, 21 Oct 2020, 09:17

Significant earthquake 6.0 strikes 227 km N of Copiapó, Chile

The German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam (GFZ) reported a magnitude 6.0 quake in Chile only 5 minutes ago. The earthquake happened at a shallow depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The magnitude, exact epicenter location and depth could be revised within the next few minutes as the agency updates and refines its calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should have been widely felt by almost everyone in the area of the epicenter. It might have caused light to moderate damage.
Towns and cities near the epicenter that are likely to be affected include Taltal (pop. 10,000) in 72 km (45 miles) distance with moderate ground shaking expected, Diego de Almagro (pop. 18,100) in 152 km (94 miles) distance, light shaking expected, Antofagasta (pop. 309,800) in 219 km (136 miles) distance, light shaking expected, Copiapó (pop. 129,300) in 227 km (141 miles) distance, light shaking expected.
This story will be updated soon by VolcanoDiscovery. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

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Earthquake details

Date & time	Oct 21, 2020 09:13:07 UTC
Local time at epicenter	Wednesday, Oct 21, 2020, at 06:13 am (America/Santiago GMT -3)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	5.7
Depth	24.4 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	25.572°S / 70.833°W South Pacific Ocean, Antofagasta, Chile
Seismic antipode	25.572°N / 109.167°E China
Shaking intensity	V Moderate shaking near epicenter
Felt	1 report
Primary data source	CSN (National Seismological Center (Centro Sismológico Nacional))
Nearest volcano	Cerro Bayo (225 km / 140 mi)
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Overcast Clouds 14.1°C (57 F), humidity: 83%, wind: 4 m/s (9 kts) from S
Estimated seismic energy released	2.2 x 10¹³ joules (6.22 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 5351 tons of TNT or 0.3 atomic bombs!) \| about seismic energy

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Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs Quakes in Chile

Nearby places

The closest larger town where the quake might have been felt is Taltal, a town with 10,000 inhabitants in Chile, in 39 km (24 mi) distance northeast of the epicenter. People likely experienced moderate shaking there. In the capital of

Chile, Santiago de Chile, 877 km (545 mi) away from the epicenter, the earthquake was probably felt as very weak shaking.
The following table shows some of the places that might have been affected (or not) by the shaking.

Distance	Place	Max. shaking intensity(*)	Region	Country
39 km (24 mi) NE of epicenter	Taltal (pop: 10,000)	V: Moderate	Antofagasta, Antofagasta	Chile
118 km (73 mi) SE of epicenter	Diego de Almagro (pop: 18,100)	IV: Light	Chanaral, Atacama	Chile
206 km (128 mi) S of epicenter	Copiapo (pop: 129,300)	III: Weak	Copiapo, Atacama	Chile
218 km (135 mi) N of epicenter	Antofagasta (pop: 309,800)	III: Weak	Antofagasta	Chile
334 km (208 mi) S of epicenter	Vallenar (pop: 44,900)	III: Weak	Huasco, Atacama	Chile
392 km (244 mi) N of epicenter	Tocopilla (pop: 24,500)	III: Weak	Antofagasta	Chile
397 km (247 mi) NE of epicenter	Calama (pop: 143,100)	III: Weak	El Loa, Antofagasta	Chile
399 km (248 mi) NE of epicenter	San Pedro de Atacama (pop: 2,000)	III: Weak	El Loa, Antofagasta	Chile
518 km (322 mi) SE of epicenter	Chilecito (pop: 42,200)	II: Very weak	La Rioja	Argentina
877 km (545 mi) S of epicenter	Santiago de Chile (pop: 4,837,300)	II: Very weak	Santiago, Santiago	Chile

Notes:
(*) Shaking intensity according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) and estimated using seismic models.

User-reports for this quake (2)

We received 2 reports for this quake.

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.

Translate

Cleveland Mississippi / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating

Foothill Farms ,Ca.USA / not felt

What is Intensity and the Mercalli Intensity Scale?

The amount of shaking that occurs on the surface due to an earthquake is called the intensity. It is commonly measured on the so-called Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) ranging from 1 (not felt) to 10 (extreme shaking), and given in Roman numerals as I,II,...IX, X, and often displayed with color codes ranging from light blue to dark red.
Earthquake intensity depends mainly on the magnitude and depth of the quake as well as the distance from the epicenter: The further away, the less shaking intensity occurs.
Read more about the MMI scale!

Compare Quake Data

Data for the same earthquake as reported by different agencies

The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.

Mag	Depth	Time GMT 2020-10-21	Epicenter	Agency
5.7	24 km 15 mi	09:13:07	39 Km Al SO De Taltal, Chile	CSN (National Seismological Center (Centro Sismológico Nacional))
5.8	19 km 12 mi	09:13:03	OCEANO PACIFICO (Argentina), Chile 29 km (18 mi) epicenter difference with GUG (U. Chile)	INPRES
5.7	9 km 5.6 mi	09:13:05	Offshore Antofagasta, Chile 18 km (11 mi) epicenter difference with GUG (U. Chile)	EMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)
5.8	9.5 km 5.9 mi	09:13:07	Near Coast of Northern Chile 2.5 km (1.6 mi) epicenter difference with GUG (U. Chile)	GeoAu (Geoscience Australia )
5.7	20 km 12 mi	09:13:07	46 km WSW of Taltal, Chile 11 km (7.1 mi) epicenter difference with GUG (U. Chile)	USGS (United States Geological Survey)
5.3	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	09:13:08	Near Coast of Northern Chile 48 km (30 mi) epicenter difference with GUG (U. Chile)	BMKG (Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia)
5.6	21 km 13 mi	09:13:08	Near Coast of Northern Chile 14 km (8.6 mi) epicenter difference with GUG (U. Chile)	GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)

Notes:
(*) A depth given as 10 km often means that the the depth of the quake could not determined with sufficient accuracy.

Seismograms

Seismic station: Las Campanas Astronomical Observatory, Chile (LCO/IU network) | Distance from quake: 383 km / 238 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Las Campanas Astronomical Observatory, Chile: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.1-10.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

15 aftershocks for this quake

For this earthquake, 15 aftershocks have been detected so far. The strongest was a magnitude 3.8 quake that hit 1 hour and 46 minutes after the mainshock in 13.4 km (8 mi) distance, in 52 km west of Taltal, Antofagasta, Chile, on Wednesday, Oct 21, 2020 on 06:58 am (- local time GMT -4).
The most recent aftershock occurred 4 years ago 49 km west of Taltal, Chile, and had a magnitude of 2.6.

What are aftershocks?

Larger earthquakes (above magnitude 5 or so) such as this one are usually followed by smaller ones known as aftershocks that occur in the same area during the days, weeks, months or even years after the main shock.

[More info]

What about this quake?

Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the quake likely ruptured beneath a surface of approx. 50 km² (=19 sqare miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 12 km (8 mi).

[More info]

Recorded aftershocks, latest first (15 quakes)

Date and Time GMT	Mag Depth	Distance	Region	Details
Nov 10, 2020 07:20 pm (GMT -4) 3 years ago 3 weeks after main shock	2.6 30 km	11 km (6.9 mi) W of main shock	49 Km Al O De Taltal, Chile	More
Oct 23, 2020 04:32 am (GMT -4) 4 years ago 1 day 23 hours after main shock	3.7 25 km	14 km (9 mi) W of main shock	51 Km Al O De Taltal, Chile	More
Oct 22, 2020 10:10 pm (GMT -4) 4 years ago 1 day 17 hours after main shock	4.2 15 km	8.1 km (5.1 mi) NW of main shock	Offshore Antofagasta, Chile	More
Oct 22, 2020 03:19 am (Santiago) 4 years ago 22 hours after main shock	2.7 31 km	4.2 km (2.6 mi) W of main shock	43 Km Al SO De Taltal, Chile	More
Oct 22, 2020 02:15 am (GMT -4) 4 years ago 21 hours after main shock	3.5 30 km	12 km (7.3 mi) W of main shock	Offshore Antofagasta, Chile	More
Oct 21, 2020 09:51 pm (GMT -4) 4 years ago 17 hours after main shock	2.7 30 km	9.9 km (6.2 mi) W of main shock	Offshore Antofagasta, Chile	More
Oct 21, 2020 09:05 pm (GMT -4) 4 years ago 16 hours after main shock	3.0 16 km	14 km (8.7 mi) NW of main shock	47 Km Al O De Taltal, Chile	More
Oct 21, 2020 05:20 pm (GMT -4) 4 years ago 12 hours after main shock	2.7 37 km	14 km (8.7 mi) SW of main shock	Offshore Antofagasta, Chile	More
Oct 21, 2020 04:23 pm (Santiago) 4 years ago 11 hours after main shock	2.6 26 km	6 km (3.7 mi) SW of main shock	45 Km Al SO De Taltal, Chile	More
Oct 21, 2020 04:12 pm (GMT -4) 4 years ago 11 hours after main shock	3.0 24 km	12 km (7.8 mi) W of main shock	50 Km Al O De Taltal, Chile	More
Oct 21, 2020 12:09 pm (GMT -4) 4 years ago 7 hours after main shock	3.0 28 km	5.9 km (3.7 mi) NW of main shock	Offshore Antofagasta, Chile	More
Oct 21, 2020 07:21 am (GMT -4) 4 years ago 2 hours and 9 minutes after main shock	3.0 28 km	11 km (7 mi) W of main shock	Offshore Antofagasta, Chile	More
Oct 21, 2020 06:58 am (GMT -4) 4 years ago 1 hour and 46 minutes after main shock	3.8 24 km	13 km (8.4 mi) W of main shock	52 Km Al O De Taltal, Chile	More
Oct 21, 2020 06:52 am (GMT -4) 4 years ago 1 hour and 40 minutes after main shock	3.7 25 km	12 km (7.6 mi) NW of main shock	Offshore Antofagasta, Chile	More
Oct 21, 2020 05:44 am (GMT -4) 4 years ago 31 minutes after main shock	3.4 35 km	14 km (8.6 mi) W of main shock	Offshore Antofagasta, Chile	More
Oct 21, 2020 06:13 am (Santiago) 4 years ago - felt	5.7 24 km	0 km - This quake	South Pacific Ocean, 39 km SW of Taltal, Antofagasta, Chile Main Shock (this quake)	More

Map of aftershocks

Earthquake statistics

Average number of earthquakes

Based on data from the past 54 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 88 quakes on average per year in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi):

Mag. 7 or higher: 0.03 quakes per year (or 1 quake every 31.3 years)
Mag. 6 or higher: 0.14 quakes per year (or 1 quake every 7 years)
Mag. 5 or higher: 1.52 quakes per year
Mag. 4 or higher: 11.7 quakes per year
Mag. 3 or higher: 48 quakes per year (or 4 quakes per month)
Mag. 2 or higher: 88 quakes per year (or 7.4 quakes per month)

The area where this quake occurred has a very high level of seismic activity. It has had at least 4 quakes above magnitude 7 since 1900, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 30 to 35 years.

Number of quakes per year

Previous quakes in the same area of this earthquake

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