Earthquake details

Sunday, May 20, 1979 Earthquake

The earthquake hit Chile on Sunday, May 20, 1979 at 19:37 UTC with a magnitude of 5.6. The closest known location in the current dataset is Copiapó (Chile - CL), about 74.8 km away. The epicenter is located at longitude -71.047 and latitude -27.149.

Magnitude	5.6
Alert	Strong
Depth	33.0 km
Coordinates	-27.149, -71.047
UTC time	1979-05-20 19:37:45.200

Location	Copiapó
Country	Chile (CL)
Severity	Strong

Earthquake map 1979-05-20

Closest countries

The 12 closest cities near the epicenter.

Copiapó	74.8 km
Vallenar	161.4 km
La Serena	307.5 km
Coquimbo	313.5 km
Ovalle	384.6 km
Antofagasta	394.7 km
Chilecito	414.2 km
La Rioja	482.3 km
Aguilares	538.3 km
Catamarca	538.5 km
Chimbas	541.6 km
San Juan	545.8 km

Nearby earthquakes

The latest 8 earthquakes within 100 km of this epicenter.

M 4.4

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-25 11:13 UTC

75.7 km

M 4.2

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-12 04:23 UTC

90.4 km

M 4.4

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-11 18:07 UTC

88.5 km

M 5.5

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-11 12:22 UTC

94.6 km

M 5.1

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-11 12:06 UTC

95.5 km

M 4.1

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-11 12:02 UTC

97.1 km

M 4.3

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-11 06:05 UTC

97.6 km

M 5.2

Copiapó

Chile · 2026-06-11 05:19 UTC

95.5 km

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