[11] The April 24, 2017, M6.9 earthquake west of Valparaiso, Chile, occurred as the result of thrust faulting on or near the subduction zone interface between the Nazca and Pacific plates.

At the latitude of this event, the Nazca plate is moving towards the east-northeast at a velocity of 74 mm/year with respect to South America, and begins its subduction beneath the continent at the Peru–Chile Trench, 80 km to the west of the April 24 earthquake.

[25] While commonly plotted as points on maps, earthquakes of this size are more appropriately described as slip over a larger fault area.

To the north of the Juan Fernandez Ridge, the subduction zone last ruptured in the M 8.3 Illapel earthquake in September 2015.

The National Office of Emergency of the Interior Ministry declared a tsunami warning for the coasts of the Valparaíso and O'Higgins regions.