Significant earthquakes of 1819

April 3, 1819 Earthquake: Copiapo, Chile

April 3, 1819 · M8

A magnitude 8 earthquake struck Copiapo, Chile on April 3, 1819 at 14:00 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
April 3, 1819
Time
14:00 UTC
Place
Copiapo, Chile
Magnitude
8
Tsunami
None recorded
Epicenter
27.400° S, 70.300° W
Country
Chile

The toll

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.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

On April 3, 1819 at 10 a.m. [local time] an earthquake caused widespread damage in Copiapo and was a foreshock to the destructive earthquakes of April 4 and April 12. These three shocks destroyed Copiapo completely. (reference #252)

The first shock occurred in Copiapo, on April 3 between 08:00 and 09:00 [local time]. Tremors continued at intervals until the evening of the following day. (reference #415)

Epicenter 27.4 S, 70.3 W (reference #552)

[Also see Chilean earthquakes on March 30, 1796; August 24, 1798; April 4, 1819; April 12, 1819.]

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

More

Significant earthquakes of 1819The 1800sRecent earthquakes near hereThis 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 1635.