August 24, 1798 Earthquake: Copiapo, Chile

Date

August 24, 1798

Place

Copiapo, Chile

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

27.350° S, 70.350° W

Country

Chile

Damage

Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)

Houses destroyed

Some (about 51 to 100)

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.

• November 11, 1922, Atacama, ChileM8.5 · 700 deaths · 116 km
• October 5, 1859, ChileM7.6 · 10 deaths · 339 houses destroyed · 0 km
• October 4, 1983, Copoapo-Chanaral, Northern, ChileM7.3 · 5 deaths · $1 million · 40 houses destroyed · 93 km
• August 2, 1946, Northern, ChileM7.9 · 2 deaths · 96 km
• March 30, 1796, Copiapo, Vallenar, Huasco, Coquimbo, ChileM7.7 · Deaths: few · 0 km
• March 13, 1846, Coiapo, Chile0 km
• May 26, 1851, Copiapo, ChileM7.2 · 0 km
• April 3, 1819, Copiapo, ChileM8 · 7 km
• April 4, 1819, Copiapo, ChileM8 · Deaths: many · 7 km
• April 18, 2002, Copiapo, Taltal, ChileM6.6 · 34 houses destroyed · 31 km
• April 18, 1939, North Central, ChileM7.4 · 42 km
• August 3, 1978, Copiapo-Taltai, Northern, ChileM7 · 95 km
• June 8, 1909, ChileM7.6 · 96 km
• December 9, 1926, Vallenar, ChileM6 · 97 km
• April 12, 1819, Copiapo, ChileM8.5 · Deaths: few · 120 km

Significant earthquakes of 1798The 1700sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 7536.