M5.1 earthquake near Vallenar, Atacama

What happened

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 79 km NNW of Vallenar, Chile on 1 Sept 2020, 04:20 UTC at a depth of 23 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 79 km away in Atacama, Chile.