Today, September 1, 2020 at 06:09:28 a.m. (UTC+02:00), a 6.8 Mwp magnitude earthquake was recorded in the South Pacific Ocean, located a few kilometers offshore from Chile's coast, at a depth estimated between 10 and 25 km.
An information message from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center was generated by the magnitude and characteristics of the earthquake, i.e. no tsunami warning was issued.
The INGV Tsunami Warning Center, which monitors strong earthquakes on a global scale, quickly determined the characteristics of the seismic event, estimating in a few minutes the location and magnitude of the event (estimated in M6.8, the same as the USGS estimate).
The region of South America, on the Pacific side, is characterized by a very frequent seismicity and even very strong earthquakes.
In this region there was the strongest earthquake ever recorded by instruments, with magnitude 9.5, which generated a large tsunami. It was after this event that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center was established.
The map shows the epicenters of earthquakes of magnitude equal to or higher than 4.5 in the area, from 1900 to 2015 (source: USGS). The star represents the epicenter of today's event, September 1, 2020.
