Earthquakes in Chile — Page 3

Chile records earthquakes steadily rather than in isolated bursts, with 33 events in the past 30 days, and 76 of the events on record reached magnitude 5 or above — the level at which damage becomes a genuine concern for vulnerable construction. Chile sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and the depth distribution below shows the subducting slab beneath it directly.

728 earthquakes have been recorded in Chile in our catalogue, 33 of them in the past 30 days.

The average magnitude is 4.4 and the average focal depth 77 km. 701 events reached magnitude 4 or above and 76 reached magnitude 5 or above.

The strongest earthquake recorded in Chile in this period was a magnitude 6.9 event near Calama, Chile on 25 May 2026, at a depth of 109 km. A magnitude 6.9 earthquake radiates roughly 337,605 tons of TNT equivalent in seismic energy.

Locations recording the most events include Ollagüe (99), Calama (84), La Tirana (48), San Pedro de Atacama (45), Ovalle (36).

47% of events here are shallow (under 70 km), 53% 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 281 km beneath San Pedro de Atacama, Chile on 04 March 2025.

By band, the catalogue holds 4 in the magnitude 2 range, 22 in the magnitude 3 range, 625 in the magnitude 4 range, 68 in the magnitude 5 range, 8 in the magnitude 6 range.

The busiest single day was 21 July 2025, with 7 recorded events.

2 of these events carry a USGS link to NOAA tsunami information. That link flag does not mean a tsunami occurred or that a warning was issued.