M5.1 earthquake near Vallenar, Atacama

What happened

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 96 km NW of Vallenar, Chile on 12 Feb 2017, 16:21 UTC at a depth of 16 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 97 km away in Atacama, Chile.