January 8, 1956 Earthquake: Chile

Date

January 8, 1956

Time

20:54:13 UTC

Place

Chile

Magnitude

7.1 (Ms)

Intensity

5 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

Yes: the tsunami it caused

Epicenter

19.000° S, 70.000° W

Country

Chile

Deaths

Few (about 1 to 50)

Damage

Limited (under about $1 million)

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 13, 1868, Arica, ChileM8.5 · 25,000 deaths · $300 million · 114 km
• September 18, 1833, Arica, Tacna, Chile, Peru, Peru-ChileM7.7 · 700 deaths · 1,001 houses destroyed · 135 km
• November 24, 1604, Arica, Arequipa, Chile, PeruM8.5 · 174 deaths · 159 km
• June 13, 2005, Tarapaca, ChileM7.7 · 11 deaths · $5.1 million · 544 houses destroyed · 138 km
• April 1, 2014, Iquique, Alto Hospicio, Northern, ChileM8.2 · 7 deaths · $100 million · 105 km
• August 8, 1987, Arica, Iquique, ChileM6.9 · 5 deaths · $1 million · 1,000 houses destroyed · 3 km
• August 13, 1987, Arequipa, Tacna, Arica, Peru, ChileM6.4 · 1 death · 157 km
• May 11, 1948, Arequipa,moquegua,tacna,torata,quellaveco, PeruM6.5 · 1 death · 193 km
• November 26, 1705, Arica, Chile49 km
• 1543, ChileDeaths: few · 53 km
• May 7, 1906, Tacna, Arica, Peru, Chile64 km
• August 12, 1923, Northern, Chile64 km
• September 16, 1615, Arica, ChileM7.5 · 67 km
• March 10, 1681, ChileM7.5 · 67 km
• March 27, 1892, Arica, Chile67 km

Significant earthquakes of 1956The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1956Recent 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 9782.