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Moderate mag. 4.7 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 30 km southwest of Coquimbo, Provincia de Elqui, Coquimbo Region, Chile, on Monday, Jan 18, 2021 at 2:45 am (GMT -3)

Moderate magnitude 4.7 earthquake at 42 km depth

18 Jan 05:54 UTC: First to report: EMSC after 8 minutes.
18 Jan 06:02: Magnitude recalculated from 5.1 to 4.9. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 5.0 to 20.0 km (from 3.1 to 12.4 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 22 km (14 mi) towards W.
18 Jan 06:08: Now using data updates from GUG (U. Chile)

Update Mon, 18 Jan 2021, 06:00

Significant magnitude 5.1 quake hits 27 km southwest of Coquimbo, Chile early morning

5.1 quake 18 Jan 2:45 am (GMT -3)

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake near Coquimbo, Provincia de Elqui, Coquimbo Region, Chile, was reported only 14 minutes ago by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a very shallow depth of 5 km beneath the epicenter early morning on Monday 18 January 2021 at 2:45 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.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.
In Coquimbo (pop. 161,300) located 27 km from the epicenter, and La Serena (pop. 154,500) 37 km away, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Ovalle (pop. 77,100) located 67 km from the epicenter, Vicuña (pop. 13,500) 83 km away, and Monte Patria (pop. 13,900) 89 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 details

Date & time	Jan 18, 2021 05:45:57 UTC
Local time at epicenter	Monday, Jan 18, 2021 at 2:45 am (GMT -3)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	4.7
Depth	41.5 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	30.146°S / 71.564°W (South Pacific Ocean, Chile)
Antipode	30.146°N / 108.436°E
Shaking intensity	Very weak shaking
Felt	1 report
Primary data source	GUG (U. Chile)
Nearest volcano	###NEARESTVOLCANO2###
Nearby towns and cities	30 km (19 mi) SW of Coquimbo (pop: 161,300) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 41 km (25 mi) SW of La Serena (pop: 154,500) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 62 km (38 mi) NW of Ovalle (pop: 77,100) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 83 km (51 mi) W of Vicuña (pop: 13,500) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 84 km (52 mi) NW of Monte Patria (pop: 13,900) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 170 km (105 mi) NNW of Illapel (Choapa) (pop: 22,800) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 191 km (119 mi) SSW of Vallenar (pop: 44,900) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 322 km (200 mi) N of Valparaiso (pop: 282,400) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 378 km (235 mi) NNW of Santiago de Chile (pop: 4,837,300) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 397 km (246 mi) NNW of Puente Alto (pop: 510,400) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Overcast Clouds 15°C (59 F), humidity: 88%, wind: 2 m/s (3 kts) from NW
Estimated seismic energy released	7.1 x 10¹¹ joules (197 megawatt hours, equivalent to 169 tons of TNT) \| about seismic energy

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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.

Mag.	Depth	Location	Source
4.7	42 km	14 Km Al NO De Tongoy, Chile	GUG (U. Chile)
4.9	33 km	32 Km SW of Coquimbo, Chile	USGS
4.9	33 km	OFFSHORE COQUIMBO, CHILE	EMSC
4.6	25 km	Near Coast of Central Chile	GFZ
4.4	106 km	Near Coast of Central Chile	USP

Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs Quakes in Chile

Seismograms

Seismic station: Fray Jorge, IV Region Coquimbo (CO06/C1 network) | Distance from quake: 59 km / 37 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Fray Jorge, IV Region Coquimbo: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.2-10.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

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Seismic station Fray Jorge, IV Region Coquimbo: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Fray Jorge, IV Region Coquimbo: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake, showing horizontal E-W and N-S ground movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Combarbala (CO02/C1 network) | Distance from quake: 129 km / 80 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Combarbala: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Combarbala: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Combarbala: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Copiapo (Tierra Amarilla), Chile (GO03/C network) | Distance from quake: 312 km / 194 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Copiapo (Tierra Amarilla), Chile: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Copiapo (Tierra Amarilla), Chile: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Copiapo (Tierra Amarilla), Chile: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Mina Guanaco, Chile (GO02/C network) | Distance from quake: 587 km / 365 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Mina Guanaco, Chile: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.2-5.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station Mina Guanaco, Chile: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Mina Guanaco, Chile: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Huaiquique (TA02/C1 network) | Distance from quake: 1107 km / 688 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Huaiquique: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.2-5.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station Huaiquique: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Huaiquique: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

User reports for this quake (2)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.

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Santiago (374.3 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / not felt (reported through our app)

Lo Prado, Provincia de Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan (368.2 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 15-20 s (reported through our app)

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