Significant magnitude 5.8 quake hits 34 km west of Lebu, Chile in the evening

Just 5 minutes ago, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck near Lebu, Provincia de Arauco, Region del Biobio, Chile. The tremor was recorded in the evening on Saturday, May 9th, 2026, at 9:34 pm local time, at a shallow depth of 23. km below the surface.
The event was filed by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the first seismological agency to report it.
A second report was later issued by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), which listed it as a magnitude 5.8 earthquake as well.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.
In Lebu (pop. 22,300) located 34 km from the epicenter, Los Alamos (pop. 19,500) 51 km away, Cañete (pop. 20,200) 59 km away, Canete (pop. 31,800) 60 km away, Curanilahue (pop. 30,600) 64 km away, Arauco (pop. 24,700) 78 km away, and Lota (pop. 49,800) 100 km away, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Concepcion (pop. 223,600) located 127 km from the epicenter.
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 9, 2026 09:34 pm (GMT -5) local time (10 May 2026 02:34 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.8
Depth: 23.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 37.65°S / 74.04°W (Arauco, Region del Biobio, Chile)
Primary data source: EMSC
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