December 21, 1967 Earthquake: Northern, Chile

Name: December 21, 1967 Earthquake: Northern, Chile
Start: 1967-12-21
Location: Northern, Chile

December 21, 1967 · M7.5 · 1 death

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Northern, Chile on December 21, 1967 at 02:25:23 UTC, 33 km below the surface. It killed 1 person.

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: December 21, 1967
Time: 02:25:23 UTC
Place: Northern, Chile
Magnitude: 7.5 (Ms)
Focal depth: 33 km (21 mi)
Tsunami: Yes: the tsunami it caused
Epicenter: 21.700° S, 69.500° W
Country: Chile

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: Many (about 101 to 1,000)
Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
Houses destroyed: Some (about 51 to 100)

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.

December 21, 1967 2:25:23 UTC (December 20, 22:25 local time). There was a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Northern Chile (21.7 S, 69.5 W, depth 33 km). Tocopilla was 20% destroyed. Later, vessels in port collided three times due to the unusually strong waves (Reference #415).

December 21, 1967, 02:25:21.6 UTC, 21.8 S, 70.0 W, magnitude 7.0 MS, depth 33 km, near coast of northern Chile. The shock caused one death and several injuries, and inflicted severe property damage at Quillagua and Tocopilla, two small villages near the earthquake's epicenter. 80% of structures were destroyed at Quillagua; Tocopilla sustained damage to about 20% of its buildings, several of which will have to be razed and reconstructed. Numerous roads were damaged or blocked by earthslides in the area (Reference #45).

December 21, 1967, 02:25:21 UTC, 21.89 S, 70.07 W, magnitude 6.0 MS, depth 33.0 km (Reference #1206).

December 21, 1967, 02:25 UTC, 21.7 S, 70.5 W, magnitude 7.5 MS, depth 33 km (Reference #552).

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1967 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1967 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 6630.