1543 Earthquake: Chile

Date

1543

Place

Chile

Intensity

10 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

19.000° S, 70.500° W

Country

Chile

Deaths

Few (about 1 to 50)

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

• August 13, 1868, Arica, ChileM8.5 · 25,000 deaths · $300 million · 69 km
• September 18, 1833, Arica, Tacna, Chile, Peru, Peru-ChileM7.7 · 700 deaths · 1,001 houses destroyed · 99 km
• November 24, 1604, Arica, Arequipa, Chile, PeruM8.5 · 174 deaths · 133 km
• June 13, 2005, Tarapaca, ChileM7.7 · 11 deaths · $5.1 million · 544 houses destroyed · 175 km
• April 1, 2014, Iquique, Alto Hospicio, Northern, ChileM8.2 · 7 deaths · $100 million · 73 km
• August 8, 1987, Arica, Iquique, ChileM6.9 · 5 deaths · $1 million · 1,000 houses destroyed · 54 km
• August 13, 1987, Arequipa, Tacna, Arica, Peru, ChileM6.4 · 1 death · 131 km
• May 11, 1948, Arequipa,moquegua,tacna,torata,quellaveco, PeruM6.5 · 1 death · 190 km
• January 8, 1956, ChileM7.1 · Deaths: few · 53 km
• November 26, 1705, Arica, Chile55 km
• June 4, 1845, Chile57 km
• September 16, 1615, Arica, ChileM7.5 · 58 km
• March 10, 1681, ChileM7.5 · 58 km
• March 27, 1892, Arica, Chile58 km
• May 7, 1906, Tacna, Arica, Peru, Chile59 km

Significant earthquakes of 1543The 1500sRecent earthquakes near here

Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 716.