Magnitude 4.6 earthquake strikes near Iquique, Provincia de Iquique, Tarapacá, Chile

An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 occurred early morning on Monday, May 18th, 2026, at 4:48 am local time near Iquique, Provincia de Iquique, Tarapacá, Chile, as reported by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).
According to preliminary data, the quake was located at an intermediate depth of 71.80 km. 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.
A second report was later issued by the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake, which listed it as a magnitude 4.6 earthquake as well. A third agency, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), reported the same quake at magnitude 4.6.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Los Verdes (pop. 220) located 18 km from the epicenter, Alto Hospicio (pop. 142,100) 21 km away, Pozo Almonte (pop. 16,900) 27 km away, Iquique (pop. 199,600) 28 km away, La Tirana (pop. 840) 35 km away, Huara (pop. 2,900) 51 km away, and Pica (pop. 9,300) 68 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: May 18, 2026 04:48 am (GMT -4) local time (18 May 2026 08:48 GMT)
Magnitude: 4.6
Depth: 71.80 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 20.41°S / 69.98°W (Provincia de Iquique, Tarapacá, Chile)
Primary data source: EMSC
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