September 4, 1958 Earthquake: Chile-Argentina

Date

September 4, 1958

Time

21:51:16 UTC

Place

Chile-Argentina

Magnitude

6.8 (Ms)

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

33.785° S, 70.112° W

Country

Chile

Region

South America

USGS record

The USGS’s page for this earthquake

Deaths

7

Damage

Severe (about $5 to $25 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.

1. #1040 Rothe, J.P. (1969). The Seismicity of the Earth 1953-1965, United National Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris, France, 312 p. plus maps.
2. #9910 Engdahl, E.R., R. van der Hilst, R. Buland (2012). Centennial Earthquake Catalog. Retrieved August 11, 2011 from link

• March 20, 1861, Mendoza, San Luiz, Argentina14,000 deaths · 164 km
• August 17, 1906, South Central, ChileM8.2 · 4,000 deaths · $100 million · 196 km
• May 14, 1647, Santiago, ChileM8.5 · 1,000 deaths · 300 houses destroyed · 62 km
• March 28, 1965, Central, ChileM7.3 · 400 deaths · $125 million · 184 km
• March 3, 1985, Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso, ChileM8 · 180 deaths · $1.5 billion · 165 km
• July 9, 1971, Central, ChileM7.8 · 83 deaths · $236.4 million · 175 km
• November 20, 1822, Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua, ChileM8.5 · 72 deaths · 196 km
• January 26, 1985, West Central, Mendoza, LA Ligua, ArgentinaM6 · 6 deaths · $5 million · 12,500 houses destroyed · 150 km
• July 8, 1730, Valparaiso, ChileM9.1 · 5 deaths · 193 km
• April 9, 1985, Near Central Coast, Santiago-Valparaiso, ChileM7.5 · 2 deaths · 144 km
• April 17, 2012, Valparaiso, ChileM6.7 · 2 deaths · 174 km
• August 2, 2017, Santiago, ChileM5.4 · 1 death · 80 km
• March 17, 1985, Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, ChileM6.6 · 1 death · 183 km
• July 9, 1657, Santiago, Chile63 km
• March 13, 1896, Limache, Almendral, Chile120 km

Significant earthquakes of 1958The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1958Recent 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 4175. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem885098, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.