3rd big quake in a week: Probable 6.3 quake strikes offshore Coquimbo, Chile

RT
Mon, 21 Sep 2015 09:09 UTC

© earthquake.usgs.gov

A 6.3-magnitude jolt has shaken Chile, which is still recovering from a deadly earthquake last week.

The new quake hit off the Chilean coast 230km north of the capital Santiago, about 50km west of the coastal city of Illapel in the Choapa Province, according to USGS.

A powerful 8.3 earthquake shook Chile on Wednesday, triggering a tsunami and the evacuation of over 1 million people.

The quake was the sixth-strongest in Chile's recorded history and was felt thousands of kilometers from the center as far away as California.

Comment: 2010 saw 3 major Chilean earthquakes over 6.0; 2011, 2012 and 2013 each brought 1 such quake. In 2014 there were 7 (3 of which occurred on the same day, April 1). This latest quake makes for the 5th in 2015. By contrast, there were apparently no such quakes from 1987 to 1994, or in 1996, 1999-2001 and 2006. See:

• Chile 8.3 mega-quake: 1 million evacuated, at least 5 dead & 20 injured
• Another earthquake hits Chile; 6.3 magnitude tremor near city of Valparaiso

For more detailed data on Chile's earthquakes for the past 100 years, see the USGS data.