Significant earthquakes of 1871

August 20, 1871 Earthquake: Valparaiso, Chile

August 20, 1871

An earthquake struck Valparaiso, Chile on August 20, 1871. It caused a tsunami.

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
August 20, 1871
Place
Valparaiso, Chile
Epicenter
33.100° S, 71.700° W
Country
Chile

The toll

The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

August 20 (21), 1871. At Valparaiso (and also at Santiago),

there was an earthquake accompanied by such large sea waves that ships making ready to enter the port were obliged to go back out to sea (Perrey, 1875 b--ref #2202; Goll, 1903--ref #4093). [Perrey thought that these might also be waves from the Peruvian earthquake of August 21, 1871. (reference #415)

August 20, 1871, 33.1 S, 71.7 W, runup height 1 m. (reference #552)

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

More

Significant earthquakes of 1871The 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 6305.