Light mag. 4.4 earthquake - 31 km southwest of Illapel, Provincia de Choapa, Coquimbo Region, Chile, on Sunday, 17 Jan 2021 9:32 am (GMT -3) -

Light mag. 4.4 earthquake - 31 km southwest of Illapel, Provincia de Choapa, Coquimbo Region, Chile, on Sunday, 17 Jan 2021 9:32 am (GMT -3)

Light magnitude 4.4 earthquake at 50 km depth

17 Jan 12:45 UTC: First to report: USGS after 14 minutes.
17 Jan 12:54: Now using data updates from GUG (U. Chile)
17 Jan 13:40: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 39.3 to 49.5 km (from 24 to 31 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 19 km (12 mi) towards W.
Update Sun, 17 Jan 2021, 12:51
Light earthquake of magnitude 4.6 just reported 42 km southwest of Illapel, Chile
4.6 quake 17 Jan 9:32 am (GMT -3)
4.6 quake 17 Jan 9:32 am (GMT -3)
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake near Illapel, Provincia de Choapa, Coquimbo Region, Chile, was reported only 19 minutes ago by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a moderately shallow depth of 47.1 km beneath the epicenter in the morning on Sunday 17 January 2021 at 9:32 am local time. 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.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) which listed the quake at magnitude 4.6 as well.
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 Illapel (pop. 22,800) located 42 km from the epicenter, and Salamanca (pop. 13,300) 57 km away.
Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include La Ligua (pop. 24,900) located 78 km from the epicenter, and Hacienda La Calera (pop. 49,100) 113 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.
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Earthquake data:

Date & time: 17 Jan 2021 12:32:12 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Sunday, 17 Jan 2021 9:32 am (GMT -3)
Magnitude: 4.4
Depth: 49.5 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 31.817°S / 71.414°W (Provincia de Choapa, Coquimbo Region, Chile)
Nearest volcano: Tupungatito (223 km / 139 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
31 km (19 mi) SW of Illapel (Choapa) (pop: 22,800) --> See nearby quakes!
43 km (27 mi) W of Salamanca (Choapa) (pop: 13,300) --> See nearby quakes!
73 km (45 mi) NNW of La Ligua (Petorca, Valparaíso) (pop: 24,900) --> See nearby quakes!
135 km (84 mi) N of Viña del Mar (Valparaíso) (pop: 294,600) --> See nearby quakes!
137 km (85 mi) S of Ovalle (pop: 77,100) --> See nearby quakes!
137 km (85 mi) N of Valparaiso (Valparaíso) (pop: 282,400) --> See nearby quakes!
196 km (122 mi) NNW of Santiago de Chile (Santiago Metropolitan) (pop: 4,837,300) --> See nearby quakes!
213 km (133 mi) S of La Serena (pop: 154,500) --> See nearby quakes!
213 km (133 mi) S of La Serena (pop: 154,500) --> See nearby quakes!
214 km (133 mi) NNW of Puente Alto (Santiago Metropolitan) (pop: 510,400) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Clear Sky 19.4°C (67 F), humidity: 41%, wind: 1 m/s (2 kts) from WNW
Primary data source: GUG (U. Chile)
Estimated released energy: 2.5 x 1011 joules (69.8 megawatt hours, equivalent to 60 tons of TNT) More info
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If you felt this quake (or if you were near the epicenter), please share your experience and submit a short "I felt it" report! Other users would love to hear about it!
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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.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 4.450 km18 Km Al S De Illapel, ChileGUG (U. Chile)
M 4.667 kmCOQUIMBO, CHILEEMSC
M 4.647 km42 Km WSW of Illapel, ChileUSGS

User reports for this quake (3)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
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185.9 km SSE of epicenter [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 10-15 s : El sismo fue muy parecido al que hubo 8 min antes (comenzó con ruido Y luego empezó a temblar) (reported through our app)
Salamanca Chile / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : Temblor con mucho ruido antes y durante movimiento, de forma de cernido..
Chincolco / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s
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