Earthquake details

Sunday, May 20, 1979 Earthquake

The earthquake hit Chile on Sunday, May 20, 1979 at 13:53 UTC with a magnitude of 5.0. The closest known location in the current dataset is Copiapó (Chile - CL), about 84.5 km away. The epicenter is located at longitude -71.118 and latitude -27.071.

Magnitude	5.0
Alert	Strong
Depth	33.0 km
Coordinates	-27.071, -71.118
UTC time	1979-05-20 13:53:10.800

Location	Copiapó
Country	Chile (CL)
Severity	Strong

Earthquake map 1979-05-20

Closest countries

The 12 closest cities near the epicenter.

Copiapó	84.5 km
Vallenar	171.2 km
La Serena	315.8 km
Coquimbo	321.6 km
Antofagasta	387.4 km
Ovalle	393.0 km
Chilecito	424.9 km
La Rioja	492.9 km
Aguilares	546.1 km
Catamarca	547.8 km
Chimbas	552.5 km
San Juan	556.7 km

Nearby earthquakes

The latest 8 earthquakes within 100 km of this epicenter.

M 4.4

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-25 11:13 UTC

85.6 km

M 4.2

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-12 04:23 UTC

95.6 km

M 4.4

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-11 18:07 UTC

93.1 km

M 5.5

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-11 12:22 UTC

97.3 km

M 5.1

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-11 12:06 UTC

98.7 km

M 4.1

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-11 12:02 UTC

98.2 km

M 5.2

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-11 05:19 UTC

98.8 km

M 4.2

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-05-23 04:53 UTC

40.9 km

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