M5.2 earthquake near Vallenar, Atacama

What happened

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 118 km WSW of Vallenar, Chile on 20 Jan 2018, 11:31 UTC at a depth of 35 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Vallenar, about 119 km away in Atacama, Chile.