Light mag. 4.9 earthquake - Provincia del Tamarugal, 120 km northeast of Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile, on Wednesday, 6 Jan 2021 1:38 pm (GMT -3) -
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Light magnitude 4.9 earthquake at 99 km depth
6 Jan 16:43 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 5 minutes.
6 Jan 16:45: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 94.0 to 97.0 km (from 58 to 60 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 4.3 km (2.7 mi) towards ENE.
6 Jan 16:58: Now using data updates from GUG (U. Chile)
6 Jan 16:45: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 94.0 to 97.0 km (from 58 to 60 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 4.3 km (2.7 mi) towards ENE.
6 Jan 16:58: Now using data updates from GUG (U. Chile)
Update Wed, 6 Jan 2021, 17:00
Light magnitude 4.9 earthquake 120 km northeast of Iquique, Chile4.9 quake 6 Jan 1:38 pm (GMT -3)
Just 21 minutes ago, a 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck near Iquique, Provincia de Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile. The tremor was recorded around noon on Wednesday 6 January 2021 at 1:38 pm local time, at an intermediate depth of 99.4 km below the surface.
The event was filed by the National Seismological Center of the University of Chile, the first seismological agency to report it.
A second report was later issued by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), which listed it as a magnitude 5.0 earthquake. Other agencies reporting the same quake include United States Geological Survey (USGS) at magnitude 4.9, INPRES at magnitude 5.0, and European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 4.9.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Iquique (pop. 227,500) located 120 km from the epicenter.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.
The event was filed by the National Seismological Center of the University of Chile, the first seismological agency to report it.
A second report was later issued by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), which listed it as a magnitude 5.0 earthquake. Other agencies reporting the same quake include United States Geological Survey (USGS) at magnitude 4.9, INPRES at magnitude 5.0, and European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 4.9.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Iquique (pop. 227,500) located 120 km from the epicenter.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.
Earthquake data:
Date & time: 6 Jan 2021 16:38:41 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Wednesday, 6 Jan 2021 1:38 pm (GMT -3)
Magnitude: 4.9
Depth: 99.4 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 19.546°S / 69.251°W

Nearest volcano: Isluga (62 km / 39 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
120 km (74 mi) NE of Iquique (Tarapacá) (pop: 227,500) --> See nearby quakes!
162 km (101 mi) SE of Arica (Arica y Parinacota) (pop: 186,000) --> See nearby quakes!
200 km (125 mi) SSE of Tacna (Peru) (pop: 280,100) --> See nearby quakes!
281 km (175 mi) SW of Oruro (Bolivia) (pop: 208,700) --> See nearby quakes!
300 km (186 mi) NNE of Tocopilla (Antofagasta) (pop: 24,500) --> See nearby quakes!
306 km (190 mi) SE of Ilo (Moquegua, Peru) (pop: 53,500) --> See nearby quakes!
316 km (196 mi) SE of Moquegua (Peru) (pop: 54,500) --> See nearby quakes!
326 km (202 mi) N of Calama (Antofagasta) (pop: 143,100) --> See nearby quakes!
358 km (223 mi) SSW of La Paz (Bolivia) (pop: 812,800) --> See nearby quakes!
367 km (228 mi) W of Potosi (Potosí, Bolivia) (pop: 141,300) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Few Clouds
16°C (61 F), humidity: 42%, wind: 5 m/s (10 kts) from WSW
Primary data source: GUG (U. Chile)Few Clouds

Estimated released energy: 1.4 x 1012 joules (392 megawatt hours, equivalent to 338 tons of TNT) More info
Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies
Info: 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.
Magnitude | Depth | Location | Source |
M 4.9 | 99 km | 32 Km Al SE De Camiña, Chile | GUG (U. Chile) |
M 4.9 | 103 km | TARAPACA, CHILE | EMSC |
M 5.0 | 106 km | CHILE (Argentina) | INPRES |
M 4.9 | 103 km | 115 Km NE of Iquique, Chile | USGS |
M 4.8 | 97 km | Northern Chile | GFZ |
M 5.0 | 65 km | Northern Chile | USP |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
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There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900
- Date / time UTC| Mag |Depth|Age|Distance| Details
- 01 Apr 2014 23:46| 8.2 |20km / 12mi|7 years ago|164km / 102mi| South Pacific Ocean, 94 km NW of Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile
- 13 Jun 2005 22:44| 7.8 |116km / 72mi|16 years ago|49km / 31mi| Tamarugal, 103 km E of Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile
- 03 Apr 2014 02:43| 7.6 |32km / 20mi|7 years ago|170km / 106mi| South Pacific Ocean, 50 km SW of Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile
- 08 Aug 1987 15:48| 7.2 |70km / 43mi|34 years ago|97km / 60mi| 69 km SE of Arica, Arica y Parinacota, Chile
- 23 Feb 1933 08:09| 7.2 |35km / 22mi|88 years ago|142km / 88mi| Iquique, 32 km S of Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile
- 14 Jun 1959 00:12| 7.1 |109km / 68mi|62 years ago|104km / 65mi| Tamarugal, 136 km E of Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile
- 16 Mar 2014 21:17| 7.0 |33km / 21mi|7 years ago|157km / 97mi| South Pacific Ocean, 67 km NW of Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile
- 25 Feb 1983 22:49| 6.9 |146km / 91mi|38 years ago|144km / 89mi| Provincia de Parinacota, 94 km E of Arica, Arica y Parinacota, Chile
- 04 Oct 1940 07:55| 6.9 |35km / 22mi|80 years ago|120km / 74mi| South Pacific Ocean, 44 km NW of Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile
- 20 Aug 1965 09:42| 6.7 |124km / 77mi|56 years ago|80km / 50mi| Oruro, 374 km W of Sucre, Departamento de Chuquisaca, Bolivia
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