On Sunday Evening a Significant M5.4 Earthquake struck near La Serena in Chile.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on September 23rd, 2024. Last updated October 4th, 2024.

Under land 22 kilometer from La Serena in Chile, a significant MAG-5.4 earthquake occurred just before midnight of Sunday September 22nd, 2024. Roughly 0.8 million people may have felt this earthquake. Argentina is also near its epicenter.

Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in Chile, 22 kilometer (14 mi) north-northeast of La Serena in Coquimbo Region. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 66 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Sep 22, 2024 23:36 (Santiago Time) - Sep 23, 2024 02:36 Universal Time.
Location:	22 km NNE of La Serena, Coquimbo Region, Chile. Coordinates 29°42'58"S 71°9'56"W.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.4 Detected by 37 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.051 .
Depth:	66 km (41 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	V Moderate On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Tsunami very unlikely While this was a shallow earthquake in a coastal area, it appears to have occurred under land (15 km from the sea) with a magnitude that is usually not strong enough to cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Minimal impact predicted

Based on scientific estimates by the US Geographic Survey (USGS), the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities, and a 96% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 10.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 96% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls no higher than 10 million USD.

Roughly 0.8 million people exposed to shaking

The USGS has published a report estimating the number of people exposed to this earthquake. Acoording to their analysis, roughly 0.8 million have been exposed to shaking at an MMI level of II or higher.

Moderate shaking and very light damage may have been experienced by an estimated 18,150 people. At V, it is the highest MMI level this earthquake has caused. The majority of people (roughly 640 thousand) live in an area exposed to level IV, where light shaking and likely no damage is expected.

People in 2 countries have been exposed to shaking. In Chile , around 0.8 million people, with impact levels up to V (moderate shaking, very light damage). People were exposed to shaking in Argentina as well.

People	MMI Level	Shaking	Damage
0	I	Not noticable	None
2,550	II	Very weak	None
171,100	III	Weak	Probably none
639,700	IV	Light	Likely none
18,150	V	Moderate	Very light
0	VI	Strong	Light
0	VII	Very Strong	Moderate
0	VIII	Severe	Moderate to heavy
0	IX	Violent	Heavy
0	X	Extreme	Very heavy

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake struck within proximity of multiple countries. Chile and Argentina are both within 300km distance of its epicenter.

La Serena in Coquimbo Region, Chile is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 22 kilometer (14 mi) north-northeast of La Serena. The intensity of shaking and damage in La Serena is estimated to be around level IV on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (light shaking, likely no damage).

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. La Serena is located 22 km to the south-southwest and experienced an intensity of IV (light shaking, likely no damage). Coquimbo is located 31 km to the south-southwest and experienced an intensity of IV (light shaking, likely no damage). Copiapó is located 274 km to the north-northeast (intensity unknown, possibly low).

A complete list of nearby places is included below. Estimated intensity data (MMI) sourced from a shake-map published by the US Geographic Survey is shown where available (cities without data probably experienced little impact).

Overview of nearby places

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
22 km (14 mi) SSW from epicenter	La Serena Coquimbo Region, Chile.	IV Light
31 km (19 mi) SSW from epicenter	Coquimbo Coquimbo Region, Chile.	IV Light
98 km (61 mi) S from epicenter	Ovalle Coquimbo Region, Chile.	IV Light
133 km (83 mi) NNE from epicenter	Vallenar Atacama, Chile.	III Weak
213 km (132 mi) S from epicenter	Illapel Coquimbo Region, Chile.
240 km (149 mi) ESE from epicenter	San José de Jáchal San Juan, Argentina.
274 km (170 mi) NNE from epicenter	Copiapó Atacama, Chile.

Earthquake Intensity Map

The maximum intensity (MMI Scale) caused by this earthquake is V. The map below shows in which areas this earthquake was the most and least impactful. It is based on data from the US Geographic Survey.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Earthquake Intensity Map based on Shakemap Data provided by USGS.

Shaking reported by 28 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 28 people have reported shaking in 7 places, all within Chile.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

La Serena, Coquimbo, Chile: 18 people.
Coquimbo, Coquimbo, Chile: 4 people.
Santiago, Metropolitana, Chile: 2 people.
Copiapó, Atacama, Chile: 1 person.
Vallenar, Atacama, Chile: 1 person.
Illapel, Coquimbo, Chile: 1 person.
Quilpué, Valparaíso, Chile: 1 person.

4 Aftershocks detected

This main shock was followed by 4 smaller aftershocks. A 2.9 magnitude earthquake hit 18 hrs later 24 km (15 mi) north-east of this earthquake.

This main shock was prefaced by 4 smaller foreshocks. Nearby this earthquake a foreshock struck 2 days earlier. It measured a magnitude of 3.6

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

Detected MAG2.5+ earthquakes within within 100km (62 mi), that occurred in the three days before and after the main shock.
Classification	Magnitude	When	Where
Foreshock	M 2.5	3 days earlier Sep 20, 2024 09:46 (Santiago Time)	49 km (31 mi) N from Main Shock.
Foreshock	M 2.5	3 days earlier Sep 20, 2024 11:09 (Santiago Time)	42 km (26 mi) SSW from Main Shock.
Foreshock	M 3.6	2 days earlier Sep 20, 2024 13:23 (Santiago Time)	55 km (34 mi) N from Main Shock.
Foreshock	M 3.0	1 day earlier Sep 21, 2024 12:39 (Santiago Time)	15 km (9 mi) NW from Main Shock.
Main Shock This Earthquake	M 5.4	Sep 22, 2024 23:36 (Santiago Time)	-
Aftershock	M 2.5	41 mins later Sep 23, 2024 00:17 (Santiago Time)	4 km (2.2 mi) SW from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 2.5	16 hrs later Sep 23, 2024 15:17 (Santiago Time)	47 km (29 mi) SW from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 2.9	18 hrs later Sep 23, 2024 17:44 (Santiago Time)	24 km (15 mi) NE from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 2.7	1 day later Sep 24, 2024 05:55 (Santiago Time)	90 km (56 mi) NNW from Main Shock.

More earthquakes coming?

The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.

The chance that a significant earthquake like this one is followed by an even larger earthquake is not so large. On average, scientists estimate a 94% chance that a major earthquake will not be followed by an even larger one. It is still adviced to be aware of this risk

Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since September 6th, 2024, when a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit 197 km (122 mi) further north-east. An even stronger magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck on September 16th, 2015.

In total, 115 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.4 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every month.

Tsunami very unlikely

DISCLAIMER: We strongly suggest to closely monitor advice from local authorities with regards to tsunami risks. Our analysis is based on automatically collected data from external sources, and these might contain mistakes. In addition, earthquakes can cause landslides that may lead to a tsunami, or be a followed by another, potentially stonger, earthquake.

While MAG-6.5+ earthquakes may cause tsunami's, it appears that the epicenter of this earthquake hit under land. In addition, the reported depth is deeper than 100km, making the risk of a tsunami even less likely. However always stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Factor	Under Sea?	MAG-6.5 or stronger?	Shallow depth?
Explanation	Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami.	Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's.	Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor.
This Earthquake	This earthquake appears to have struck on land near a coastal area (15 km from the sea).	Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.4. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.	This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 66 km (41 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 04/10/24 02:48 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.