The epicenter of the earthquake was offshore from the Maule Region, approximately 8 km west of Curanipe and 115 km north-northeast of Chile's second largest city, Concepción. Also, the epicenter is less than 20 km due east from that of the 1960 Valdivia earthquake. Other cities exposed to Mercalli intensity scale intensity VIII (Destructive) shaking were Arauco, Lota and Constitución.