March 30, 1796 Earthquake: Copiapo, Vallenar, Huasco, Coquimbo, Chile

Name: March 30, 1796 Earthquake: Copiapo, Vallenar, Huasco, Coquimbo, Chile
Start: 1796-03-30
Location: Copiapo, Vallenar, Huasco, Coquimbo, Chile

March 30, 1796 · M7.7 · Deaths: few

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Copiapo, Vallenar, Huasco, Coquimbo, Chile on March 30, 1796 at 10:45 UTC.

Map

Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.

The earthquake

Date: March 30, 1796
Time: 10:45 UTC
Place: Copiapo, Vallenar, Huasco, Coquimbo, Chile
Magnitude: 7.7
Intensity: 11 on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 27.350° S, 70.350° W
Country: Chile

The toll

Deaths: Few (about 1 to 50)
Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
Houses destroyed: Many (101 to 1,000)

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.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

On March 30, 1796 at 6:45 a.m. [local time] the first Copiapo earthquake occurred. (Possibly there were two earlier undocumented destructive earthquakes between 1774-1796.) The earthquake destroyed Vallenar, Copiapo, Huasco and Coquimbo, and caused serious damage in La Serena. No tsunami has been reported. Comparison with the 1922 earthquake

indicates that this event was smaller, perhaps in the magnitude range of 7.5 to 8. (reference #252)

March 30, 1796, 10:45 UTC, 27.35 S, 70.35 W, magnitude 7.7, intensity XI, casualties. (reference #1206)

30 March 1796. Magnitude 7.5. This earthquake destroyed Vallenar, Copiapo, Huasco, and Coquimbo. Damage in La Serena. The earthquake was slightly smaller than in 1922. There was a severe aftershock on 24 August 1796. Apparently there had been two earlier damaging earthquakes sometime in the period 1774-1796.

[Also see Chilean earthquakes on August 24, 1798; April 3, 1819; April 4, 1819; April 12, 1819.]

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1796 The 1700s Recent earthquakes near here This day in weather history

Sources

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 1533.