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M4.9 earthquake 17 km WSW of Alto Hospicio, Tarapacá, Chile

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 17 km WSW of Alto Hospicio, Tarapacá, Chile at 00:11 local time (03:11 UTC) on 14 Oct 2026, at a depth of 48 km, according to USGS and GFZ.

Reported by 2 agencies · revised from M5.0 · 22 reports to USGS “Did You Feel It?”

Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-11-04 03:55 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
4.9light
moment magnitude (regional) (mwr)
revised from 5.0
Depth
48.3 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-10-14 03:11:09 UTC
Local: 14 Oct 2026, 00:11:09 (America/Santiago)
Epicentre
20.347° S, 70.246° W

Circles show this event and others within 36 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
PlaceDistanceEst. shaking
Alto HospicioTarapacá, Chile · pop. 142,08617 kmIVLight
IquiqueTarapacá, Chile · pop. 199,58718 kmIVLight
TacnaPeru · pop. 286,240260 kmINot felt
AntofagastaChile · pop. 401,096368 kmINot felt

Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more. Likely felt out to about 104 km.

Every agency's solution

Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

AgencyMagnitudeDepthEpicentreTime offsetStatus
GFZGFZ via GEOFON, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences4.9 Mwwas 5.043.1 km20.27° S, 70.19° W+0.1 sAutomatic · 1 revision
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey4.9 mwr48.3 km20.35° S, 70.25° W–Reviewed · 1 revision

How big was it?

Widely felt near the epicentre: rattling windows and objects. Significant damage is unlikely.

It released roughly the energy of 338 t of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 48 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

M4.9 releases about 32× the energy of M3.9, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 338 t of TNT vs 11 t of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M3.9. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

1 later earthquake within 36 km; the largest was M2.8 22 days ago. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M4.9

1 later earthquake nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
186.082.851
  1. 2.820 km SE of Alto Hospicio, Tarapacá, Chile10-21 21:15

Did you feel it?

Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.

Reports close 14 days after an earthquake.

Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

USGS “Did You Feel It?” has 22 reports: add yours at USGS.

Event id gfz2026ucue. First recorded here 14 Oct 2026, 03:19:28 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026ucue); USGS (usgs:us6000u272). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M4.9 earthquake 17 km WSW of Alto Hospicio, Tarapacá, Chile”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026ucue-m4-9-earthquake-17-km-wsw-of-alto-hospicio-tarapaca-chile, data from USGS, GFZ.

JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026ucue. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.