Strong M6.6 earthquake hits southern East Pacific Rise

The epicenter was located 3 185 km (1 980 miles) WNW of Puerto Natales (population 20 000), and 3 200 km (1 990 miles) WNW of Punta Arenas (population 117 430), Chile.

There is no tsunami threat from this earthquake.

The USGS issued a Green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage. There are likely to be no affected structures in this region.

The southern East Pacific Rise is an active tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Nazca Plate, where seafloor spreading continuously creates new oceanic crust. The region regularly experiences moderate to strong submarine earthquakes generated by extensional faulting and magmatic processes associated with the divergent plate boundary.

Due to its remote offshore location, earthquakes in this area rarely pose a direct threat to populated regions.

Estimated population exposure to earthquake shaking

Regional seismicity

References:

¹ M6.6 earthquake southern East Pacific Rise – USGS – May 20, 2026

² M6.6 earthquake southern East Pacific Rise – EMSC – May 20, 2026

Teo Blašković

I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.

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