5.4

M5.4 Earthquake in the Easter Island regionSeptember 21, 2021

2021-09-21 10:14:45 UTC (2021-09-21) · approx. 2:14 AM UTC-8 local

Felt by 1 person across nearby locations. 0

MagnitudeM5.4(mww)
Time10:14 UTC2:14 AM UTC-8
Depth10.0 kmshallow crustal
Coordinates-27.066°, -113.130°
Felt by1DYFI response
Status✓ Reviewed by USGS· green PAGER
green Alertno significant casualties or damage expected

On September 21, 2021 at 10:14 UTC, a magnitude 5.4 shallow crustal earthquake struck in the Easter Island region, at a depth of 10.0 km and coordinates -27.0657°, -113.1303°.0 The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert level for this event, indicating no significant casualties or damage expected.

Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 2 kilotons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 3.2 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.

0
Map showing earthquake epicenter at -27.07°, -113.13°

ShakeMap — predicted shaking intensity

Modeled ground-motion intensity contoured on the Modified Mercalli scale (MMI). Computed by the USGS from the moment-tensor solution and regional ground-motion prediction equations.

USGS ShakeMap intensity contours for the M5.4 earthquake near Easter Island region

Source: U.S. Geological Survey ShakeMap. View interactive ShakeMap on USGS

Did You Feel It? — community-reported shaking

Aggregated felt-report intensity from 1 citizen response to the USGS Did You Feel It? system. Each colored zone represents the average MMI from reports in that area.

USGS DYFI community-reported intensity map for the M5.4 earthquake near Easter Island region

Source: U.S. Geological Survey Did You Feel It?. View on USGS · submit your own report

Earthquake Details

Magnitude
5.4 mww
Depth
10.0 km
shallow crustal
Location
-27.0657°N
-113.1303°E
Felt Reports
1
DYFI responses
Intensity (MMI)
0.0
weak
Community Intensity
1.0
CDI from reports

Technical Information

Event ID
us7000fd3j
Event Type
earthquake
Status
✓ Reviewed
Significance
449
Azimuthal Gap
87.0°
Min Station Distance
3.295°
RMS Residual
0.42 sec
Last Updated
2025-12-22 22:16:38 UTC

Common Questions

How strong was the magnitude 5.4 earthquake in the Easter Island region?

The magnitude 5.4 earthquake that struck in the Easter Island region on September 21, 2021 at 10:14 UTC had a depth of 10.0 km. For context, this was a moderate earthquake that could be widely felt.

Where did the earthquake occur?

The earthquake epicenter was located at -27.0657°, -113.1303°, which is in the Easter Island region.

Were there aftershocks?

Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 5.4 earthquakes can continue for days to weeks and gradually diminish over time.

Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us7000fd3j). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.

Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2021, September 21, 2021). M5.4 Earthquake in the Easter Island regionSeptember 21, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2025 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us7000fd3j/