Scientists say the potential remains for further big earthquakes in North Chile, along the stretch of coast hit by a Magnitude 8.2 tremor in April.
Six people lost their lives and 13,000 homes were destroyed or damaged in the event, which also triggered a tsunami.
Two teams have now reviewed all the seismic and geodetic data from the quake that struck near Iquique City.
They tell Nature magazine that the levels of strain in the rocks of the region are still hazardously high.
And the researchers say communities should prepare for the possibility of future events being much more energetic even than the 1 April rupture.
The teams point to areas just to the south or perhaps to the north of the Iquique quake being most at risk.
"I think the risk is greatest to the south because it seems the southern section might be more locked than the northern section - and by locked, I mean it has accumulated more potential energy over the last 150 years than has the northern section," Gavin Hayes from the United States Geological Survey told BBC News.