October 18, 1961 Earthquake: Valdivia, Curico, Chile

Date

October 18, 1961

Time

16:51:57 UTC

Place

Valdivia, Curico, Chile

Magnitude

6.5 (Ms)

Focal depth

15 km (9 mi)

Tsunami

Yes: the tsunami it caused

Epicenter

36.700° S, 73.000° 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.

• January 25, 1939, Chillan, ChileM8.3 · 30,000 deaths · $920 million · 84 km
• May 22, 1960, Puerto Montt, Valdivia, ChileM9.5 · 2,226 deaths · $1 billion · 58,622 houses destroyed · 164 km
• February 8, 1570, Old Concepcion, ChileM8.3 · 2,000 deaths · 6 km
• February 27, 2010, Maule, Concepcion, Talcahuano, ChileM8.8 · 558 deaths · $30 billion · 65 km
• May 25, 1751, Concepcion, Chillan, Talca, Tutuben, Curico, ChileM8.5 · 65 deaths · 123 km
• April 20, 1949, Angol, Traiguen, ChileM7.3 · 57 deaths · 151 km
• February 20, 1835, Concepcion, ChileM8.2 · 53 deaths · 15 km
• March 15, 1657, Concepcion, Chillan, ChileM8 · 40 deaths · 15 km
• May 6, 1953, Chillan, Concepcion, ChileM7.6 · 9 deaths · $500 million · 50 km
• July 23, 1898, Concepcion, ChileM6.5 · 6 deaths · 15 km
• September 29, 2019, Concepcion, ChileM6.8 · 1 death · 137 km
• March 25, 2012, Parral, Santiago, ChileM7.2 · 1 death · $100 million · 181 km
• May 7, 1838, Central, Chile9 km
• March 23, 1742, Concepcion, Chile11 km
• February 14, 1878, Central, Chile11 km

Significant earthquakes of 1961The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1961Recent 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 6402.