March 8, 1847 Earthquake: Chile

Date

March 8, 1847

Time

15:00 UTC

Place

Chile

Intensity

10 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

32.450° S, 71.270° 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 17, 1906, South Central, ChileM8.2 · 4,000 deaths · $100 million · 92 km
• May 14, 1647, Santiago, ChileM8.5 · 1,000 deaths · 300 houses destroyed · 123 km
• March 28, 1965, Central, ChileM7.3 · 400 deaths · $125 million · 9 km
• March 3, 1985, Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso, ChileM8 · 180 deaths · $1.5 billion · 86 km
• July 9, 1971, Central, ChileM7.8 · 83 deaths · $236.4 million · 9 km
• November 20, 1822, Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua, ChileM8.5 · 72 deaths · 92 km
• September 16, 2015, Central, ChileM8.3 · 15 deaths · $600 million · 2,305 houses destroyed · 105 km
• October 15, 1997, Pueblo Nuevo, Coquimbo, LA Chimba, ChileM7.1 · 8 deaths · $48 million · 5,000 houses destroyed · 169 km
• September 4, 1958, Chile-ArgentinaM6.8 · 7 deaths · 183 km
• July 8, 1730, Valparaiso, ChileM9.1 · 5 deaths · 22 km
• April 17, 2012, Valparaiso, ChileM6.7 · 2 deaths · 21 km
• August 15, 1880, Illapel, ChileM7.7 · 2 deaths · 600 houses destroyed · 93 km
• April 9, 1985, Near Central Coast, Santiago-Valparaiso, ChileM7.5 · 2 deaths · 190 km
• March 17, 1985, Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, ChileM6.6 · 1 death · 35 km
• August 2, 2017, Santiago, ChileM5.4 · 1 death · 104 km

Significant earthquakes of 1847The 1800sRecent 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 1884.