Chile Earthquake Today

Where to check earthquakes in Chile

The Centro Sismológico Nacional, based at the University of Chile, runs the national seismic network and publishes a list of recent earthquakes with their location, depth, magnitude and local time, often as a distance from the nearest town. Chile's national disaster prevention and response service, SENAPRED, coordinates emergency response and can send alerts to mobile phones through the national emergency alert system. SHOA evaluates tsunami threats and issues warnings for the coast, including Easter Island and other territories.

Internationally, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) locate moderate and larger earthquakes along Chile. You can follow USGS-reported events on the EQRadar live map of Chile, check official NOAA Pacific tsunami messages on the tsunami page, and see the sloping band of deeper earthquakes beneath the Andes in the 3D depth explorer. NOAA's messages are for international awareness; for Chilean coasts, SHOA and SENAPRED are the authorities.

How to read a Chilean earthquake report

Mainland Chile's clock is usually three or four hours behind UTC, depending on the season, and some regions and Easter Island differ, so convert UTC times from USGS and EMSC carefully. The CSN often reports a local Magnitude for smaller earthquakes and moment magnitude for larger ones, while USGS uses its own methods, so the numbers can differ a little. The first automatic values are often revised.

Check the Depth too. Earthquakes near the coast are often shallow and on the plate boundary, while those under the Andes, inland, can be 100 kilometers deep or more inside the sinking plate. Deep inland earthquakes are often widely felt but less damaging, and they do not cause tsunamis.

Why Chile has such large earthquakes

Off the coast, the Nazca plate sinks beneath the South American plate along the Peru–Chile Trench at several centimeters per year, one of the faster rates of plate convergence on Earth. This Subduction zone runs the length of the country, and the contact between the plates is long and wide. When a large section slips at once, it can produce magnitude 8 and even 9 earthquakes. Farther south, the Antarctic plate also sinks beneath South America.

The same process lifts the Andes and feeds Chile's many active volcanoes, which are monitored by the national geology and mining service, SERNAGEOMIN. Crustal faults also exist, such as the long Liquiñe-Ofqui fault zone in the south. Learn more in how plates move and our article on Ring of Fire earthquakes.

Notable earthquakes in Chile

On May 22, 1960, a magnitude 9.5 earthquake near Valdivia in southern Chile became the largest earthquake ever recorded by instruments. Its tsunami crossed the Pacific and caused deaths as far away as Hawaii and Japan. Our article on the biggest earthquake ever recorded tells that story in detail.

Tsunamis, building codes and preparedness

The 2010 Maule earthquake showed both Chile's strengths and its lessons. Modern buildings designed to Chile's seismic code mostly performed well in very strong shaking, but the Tsunami that struck coastal towns within minutes caused many deaths, and official warnings that night were confusing. Since then, Chile has strengthened its warning procedures, coastal evacuation signs and regular drills.

For coastal residents, the key rule is simple: if shaking is strong enough to make it hard to stand, or lasts a long time, evacuate to high ground or outside the marked tsunami zone immediately, on foot if possible, without waiting for an official message. Stay away until authorities say the threat is over, because later waves can be larger. Our lesson on tsunami alert basics explains how warnings work.

If you felt an earthquake in Chile

Drop, Cover and Hold On during the shaking. When it stops, check for injuries, gas leaks and fire. On the coast, follow the evacuation rule above. Then check the CSN for details, SHOA for tsunami status, and SENAPRED and local authorities for instructions. After a large earthquake, aftershocks can be frequent and strong for weeks; see how long aftershocks last.

Frequently asked questions