M5.0 earthquake near Caldera, Atacama

What happened

A magnitude 5 earthquake struck 80 km W of Diego de Almagro, Chile on 17 Jan 2016, 17:05 UTC at a depth of 37 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 Caldera, about 70 km away in Atacama, Chile.