Light mag. 4.8 earthquake - Curicó, 12 km east of Curico, Maule Region, Chile, on Sunday, 17 Jan 2021 9:24 am (GMT -3) -
Quake Data | Interactive map | User Reports | Earlier quakes in same area | Quakes in Chile| Maule Region | O'Higgins Region | Santiago Metropolitan

Light magnitude 4.8 earthquake at 95 km depth
17 Jan 12:31 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 6 minutes.
17 Jan 12:44: Now using data updates from GUG (U. Chile)
17 Jan 13:38: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 92.0 to 94.7 km (from 57 to 59 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 5.9 km (3.7 mi) towards E.
17 Jan 12:44: Now using data updates from GUG (U. Chile)
17 Jan 13:38: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 92.0 to 94.7 km (from 57 to 59 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 5.9 km (3.7 mi) towards E.
Update Sun, 17 Jan 2021, 12:36
Magnitude 5.0 earthquake strikes near Curico, Provincia de Curicó, Maule Region, Chile5.0 quake 17 Jan 9:24 am (GMT -3)
The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) reported a magnitude 5.0 quake in Chile near Curico, Provincia de Curicó, Maule Region, only 12 minutes ago. The earthquake hit in the morning on Sunday 17 January 2021 at 9:24 am local time at an intermediate depth of 85 km. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which listed it as a magnitude 4.7 earthquake. A third agency, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), reported the same quake at magnitude 4.9.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Teno (pop. 6,900) located 28 km from the epicenter, Curico (pop. 102,400) 30 km away, Molina (pop. 28,800) 34 km away, Chimbarongo (pop. 17,400) 37 km away, Santa Cruz (pop. 33,300) 60 km away, San Vicente de Tagua Tagua (pop. 29,600) 67 km away, Rengo (pop. 38,100) 70 km away, and Talca (pop. 197,500) 80 km away.
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.
A second report was later issued by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which listed it as a magnitude 4.7 earthquake. A third agency, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), reported the same quake at magnitude 4.9.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Teno (pop. 6,900) located 28 km from the epicenter, Curico (pop. 102,400) 30 km away, Molina (pop. 28,800) 34 km away, Chimbarongo (pop. 17,400) 37 km away, Santa Cruz (pop. 33,300) 60 km away, San Vicente de Tagua Tagua (pop. 29,600) 67 km away, Rengo (pop. 38,100) 70 km away, and Talca (pop. 197,500) 80 km away.
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: 17 Jan 2021 12:24:33 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Sunday, 17 Jan 2021 9:24 am (GMT -3)
Magnitude: 4.8
Depth: 94.7 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 34.973°S / 71.108°W

Nearest volcano: Planchón-Peteroa (63 km / 39 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
12 km (7 mi) E of Curico (Maule Region) (pop: 102,400) --> See nearby quakes!
22 km (14 mi) NE of Molina (Provincia de Curicó, Maule Region) (pop: 28,800) --> See nearby quakes!
30 km (18 mi) S of Chimbarongo (Colchagua, O'Higgins Region) (pop: 17,400) --> See nearby quakes!
44 km (27 mi) SSE of Santa Cruz (Colchagua, O'Higgins Region) (pop: 33,300) --> See nearby quakes!
60 km (37 mi) S of San Vicente de Tagua Tagua (Cachapoal, O'Higgins Region) (pop: 29,600) --> See nearby quakes!
67 km (42 mi) SSW of Rengo (O'Higgins Region) (pop: 38,100) --> See nearby quakes!
71 km (44 mi) NE of Talca (Maule Region) (pop: 197,500) --> See nearby quakes!
95 km (59 mi) SSW of Rancagua (O'Higgins Region) (pop: 212,700) --> See nearby quakes!
159 km (99 mi) SSW of Puente Alto (Santiago Metropolitan) (pop: 510,400) --> See nearby quakes!
174 km (108 mi) SSW of Santiago de Chile (Santiago Metropolitan) (pop: 4,837,300) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Clear Sky
16.9°C (62 F), humidity: 67%, wind: 5 m/s (9 kts) from S
Primary data source: GUG (U. Chile)Clear Sky

Estimated released energy: 1 x 1012 joules (278 megawatt hours, equivalent to 239 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 4.8 | 95 km | 12 Km Al E De Curicó, Chile | GUG (U. Chile) |
M 4.7 | 94 km | MAULE, CHILE | EMSC |
M 4.7 | 96 km | 12 Km SE of Teno, Chile | USGS |
M 4.6 | 87 km | 7 Km Al E De Curicó, Chile | GFZ |
User reports for this quake (5)
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
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Leave a comment if you find a particular report interesting or want to add to it.
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Send your own user report!
Papudo (276 km N of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 5-10 s
184.9 km NNE of epicenter [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 15-20 s : Este sismo fue leve, pero con ruido segundos antes y durante el temblor (reported through our app)
Los Vilos (340.9 km N of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s
Talca / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s
Pencahue / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating / 15-20 s : Light for 5-6 seconds, then moderate for 5-6 seconds and then 5-6 seconds light again.
Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900
- Date / time UTC| Mag |Depth|Age|Distance| Details
- 27 Feb 2010 06:34| 8.8 |23km / 14mi|11 years ago|206km / 128mi| South Pacific Ocean, 55 km N of Tomé, Provincia de Concepcion, Region del Biobio, Chile
- 03 Mar 1985 22:47| 8.0 |33km / 21mi|36 years ago|216km / 134mi| South Pacific Ocean, 41 km W of Quilpué, Provincia de Marga Marga, Valparaiso, Chile
- 25 Jan 1939 03:32| 7.8 |35km / 22mi|82 years ago|184km / 114mi| Provincia de Itata, Region del Biobio, 39 km NW of Chillan, Diguillin, Ñuble, Chile
- 01 Dec 1928 04:06| 7.7 |35km / 22mi|92 years ago|93km / 58mi| 34 km NE of Constitucion, Provincia de Talca, Maule Region, Chile
- 04 Mar 1985 00:32| 7.4 |33km / 21mi|36 years ago|203km / 126mi| Provincia de Valparaiso, 27 km SW of Quilpué, Provincia de Marga Marga, Valparaiso, Chile
- 09 Apr 1985 01:56| 7.2 |38km / 23mi|36 years ago|105km / 65mi| Provincia de Cardenal Caro, O'Higgins Region, 60 km S of San Antonio, Valparaiso, Chile
- 18 Mar 1931 08:02| 7.2 |35km / 22mi|90 years ago|137km / 85mi| San Antonio, Santiago Metropolitan, 24 km SE of San Antonio, Valparaiso, Chile
- 25 Mar 2012 22:37| 7.1 |41km / 25mi|9 years ago|104km / 65mi| 23 km NE of Constitucion, Provincia de Talca, Maule Region, Chile
- 11 Mar 2010 14:55| 7.0 |18km / 11.2mi|11 years ago|96km / 60mi| 21 km NE of Los Navegantes, Provincia de Cardenal Caro, O'Higgins Region, Chile
- 02 Dec 1928 04:20| 7.0 |30km / 19mi|92 years ago|174km / 108mi| South Pacific Ocean, 53 km SW of Constitucion, Provincia de Talca, Maule Region, Chile
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