Earthquakes in Chile

No events have been recorded in Chile in the past 30 days, of which 21 reached magnitude 4 or above, the point at which shaking becomes widely noticeable. Chile sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and the depth distribution below shows the subducting slab beneath it directly.

22 earthquakes have been recorded in Chile in our catalogue, 0 of them in the past 30 days.

The average magnitude is 4.5 and the average focal depth 87 km. 21 events reached magnitude 4 or above and 2 reached magnitude 5 or above.

The strongest earthquake recorded in Chile in this period was a magnitude 6.1 event near María Elena, Chile on 02 January 2025, at a depth of 105 km. A magnitude 6.1 earthquake radiates roughly 21,301 tons of TNT equivalent in seismic energy.

Locations recording the most events include Calama (3), La Higuera (2), Camiña (2), Taltal (2), Ollagüe (1).

36% of events here are shallow (under 70 km), 64% intermediate (70–300 km) and 0% deep-focus (over 300 km). A substantial share of intermediate-depth events points to a subducting slab beneath the region rather than purely crustal faulting.

The deepest event on record here was a magnitude 4.2 earthquake at 144 km beneath Calama, Chile on 12 January 2025.

By band, the catalogue holds 1 in the magnitude 3 range, 19 in the magnitude 4 range, 1 in the magnitude 5 range, 1 in the magnitude 6 range.

The busiest single day was 18 December 2024, with 3 recorded events.

No event in this record carries a USGS link to NOAA tsunami information.