Significant 5.2 quake hits near Iquique, Provincia de Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile
5.2 quake 18 Feb 9:40 pm (GMT -5)

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake near Iquique, Provincia de Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile, was reported only 13 minutes ago by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a moderately shallow depth of 30 km beneath the epicenter in the evening on Saturday, February 18th, 2023, at 9:40 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake which listed the quake at magnitude 5.2 as well. A third agency, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), reported the same quake at magnitude 5.3.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Iquique (pop. 227,500) located 71 km from the epicenter, Alto Hospicio (pop. 105,100) 78 km away, Huari (pop. 1,100) 106 km away, Pozo Almonte (pop. 9,300) 109 km away, and La Tirana (pop. 1,500) 124 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.


Earthquake data:
Date & time: Feb 18, 2023 9:40 pm (GMT -5) local time (19 Feb 2023 02:40 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.2
Depth: 30.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 19.99°S / 70.79°W (South Pacific Ocean, Chile)
Primary data source: GFZ
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquake/news/204534/Significant-52-quake-hits-near-Iquique-Provincia-de-Iquique-Tarapaca-Chile.html