On Monday Afternoon a Shallow M5.1 Earthquake struck in the South Pacific Ocean near Valparaíso (Chile).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on July 6th, 2026. Last updated July 27th, 2026.

A shallow and significant Magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in the South Pacific Ocean 55 kilometer from Valparaíso, Chile around noon of Monday July 6th, 2026. Another nearby country is Argentina.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the South Pacific Ocean, 39 kilometers (24 mi) off the coast of Chile, 55 kilometer north of Valparaíso. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 22 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jul 6, 2026 12:15 (Santiago Time) - Jul 6, 2026 16:15 Universal Time.
Location:	55 km north of Valparaíso, Chile. Coordinates 32°33'56"S 71°47'47"W.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 272 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.035 .
Depth:	22 km (14 mi) A very shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Nearby towns and cities

Chile and Argentina are both located within 300km distance of the epicenter of the earthquake.

Located 54 kilometer (34 mi) west of the epicenter of this earthquake, La Ligua (Valparaíso, Chile) is the nearest significant population center.

Major cities near this earthquake: Santiago is located 146 km to the south-east. Viña del Mar is located 56 km to the south-east. Valparaíso is located 55 km to the south.

A complete list of nearby places is included below.

Overview of nearby places

Shaking reported by 49 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 49 people have reported shaking in 12 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:

• Santiago, Metropolitana, Chile: 29 people.
• Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, Chile: 9 people.
• Lampa, Metropolitana, Chile: 2 people.
• Quillota, Valparaíso, Chile: 1 person.
• Calera, Valparaíso, Chile: 1 person.
• Villa Alemana, Valparaíso, Chile: 1 person.
• Puente Alto, Metropolitana, Chile: 1 person.
• Paine, Metropolitana, Chile: 1 person.
• Peñaflor, Metropolitana, Chile: 1 person.
• Buin, Metropolitana, Chile: 1 person.

18 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 18 smaller aftershocks occurred. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit 2 mins later 6 km (4 mi) east of this earthquake.

This main shock was prefaced by 6 smaller foreshocks. Nearby this earthquake a foreshock struck 9 hrs earlier. It measured a magnitude of 3.6

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Earthquakes can create aftershocks. These are generally at least 1 magnitude lower than any main shock, and as time passes the chance and strength of aftershocks decreases.

It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.

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 May 31st, 2026, when a 6 magnitude earthquake hit 31 km (19 mi) further south. An even stronger magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck on April 24th, 2017.

In total, 80 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.1 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 2 months.

Low tsunami risk

Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Sources

Last updated 27/07/26 01:38 (). This article contains currently available information about the earthquake and is automatically composed. We continue to update this article up to a few days after the earthquake occurred.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000tahc
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260706_0000228
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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