Magnitude 7.1 - ARAUCANIA, CHILE

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2011 January 02 20:20:18 UTC

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Earthquake Details

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

Magnitude	7.1
Date-Time	Sunday, January 02, 2011 at 20:20:18 UTC Sunday, January 02, 2011 at 05:20:18 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	38.354°S, 73.275°W
Depth	25.1 km (15.6 miles)
Region	ARAUCANIA, CHILE
Distances	70 km (45 miles) NW of Temuco, Araucania, Chile 90 km (55 miles) SSE of Lebu, Bio-Bio, Chile 130 km (80 miles) SW of Los Angeles, Bio-Bio, Chile 595 km (370 miles) SSW of SANTIAGO, Region Metropolitana, Chile
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 13 km (8.1 miles); depth +/- 0.5 km (0.3 miles)
Parameters	NST=407, Nph=411, Dmin=352.9 km, Rmss=1.13 sec, Gp= 22°, M-type="moment" magnitude from initial P wave (tsuboi method) (Mi/Mwp), Version=G
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usc0000y49

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Earthquake Summary

Earthquake Summary Poster

Tectonic Summary

The January 2nd 2011 Araucania, Chile earthquake occurred as a result of shallow thrust faulting on or near the subduction interface between the Nazca and South America tectonic plates. At the location of this event, the Nazca plate moves east-northeastwards with respect to South America at a rate of approximately 74 mm/yr. The Nazca plate, oceanic in origin, subducts beneath the South America plate at a shallow angle along the Peru-Chile trench, and is seismically active to depths of approximately 200 km near the epicenter of today's earthquake, through further north seismicity continues to depths exceeding 600 km.

The January 2nd 2011 earthquake occurred at the southern end of the aftershock region of the Mw 8.8 megathrust earthquake of February 27, 2010, and can also be considered an aftershock of that event. The subduction zone between the Nazca and South America plates has a long history of large megathrust earthquakes, including the largest ever recorded event, an M9.5 shock in 1960, which ruptured a fault mostly to the south of today's earthquake.

Earthquake Information for Chile

Earthquake Information for South America

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Scientific & Technical Information

Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center:
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver