January 23, 1914 Earthquake: Challapata, Bolivia

Name: January 23, 1914 Earthquake: Challapata, Bolivia
Start: 1914-01-23
Location: Challapata, Bolivia

January 23, 1914 · Deaths: many

An earthquake struck Challapata, Bolivia on January 23, 1914.

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: January 23, 1914
Place: Challapata, Bolivia
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 19.000° S, 67.000° W
Country: Bolivia

The toll

Deaths: Many (about 101 to 1,000)
Injuries: Many (about 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.

La Capital de Sucre on 24 January reports: "on the morning of the day of ayera hours 05 a horrible catastrophe occurred in the town of Challapata; it was like a blowout on the ground reducing the station and the new town to rubble. According to a telegram sent to the vicario capitular, the event has caused damage to the church, the number of victims is unknown; the telegrams only say that there are many dead and wounded".

There is no information on whether this event in Challapata was an earthquake or not; it could be a ‘phreatic explosion’, which occurs in some areas of volcanic activity due to the extreme heating of underground water. Challapata is very close to an area of hot springs, where volcanic centres of possible Miocene-Pliocene activity are present. (reference #14060) [note: translation from original Spanish supported by AI tools]

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1914 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1914 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 10904.