M6.1 earthquake near Vallenar, Atacama

What happened

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 76 km NNW of Vallenar, Chile on 7 Dec 2011, 22:23 UTC at a depth of 20 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Strong. Can cause damage in populated areas up to tens of kilometres away. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Vallenar, about 77 km away in Atacama, Chile.