June 19, 1970 Earthquake: Northern, Chile

Date

June 19, 1970

Time

10:56:13 UTC

Place

Northern, Chile

Magnitude

6.4 (Ms)

Magnitude scales

Ms 6.4 · mb 6.1

Focal depth

44 km (27 mi)

Tsunami

Yes: the tsunami it caused

Epicenter

22.280° S, 70.550° W

Country

Chile

Region

South America

USGS record

The USGS’s page for this earthquake

Ms: surface-wave magnitude. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.

The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.

1. #164 Instituto Hidrografico de la Armada (1982). Maremotos en la costa de Chile. Instituto Hidrografico de la Armada, IHA Pub 3016, Valparaiso, Chile, 48 p.
2. #1206 Askew, B.L., and S.T. Algermissen (1985). Catalog of Earthquakes for South America, Hypocenter and Intensity Data, vol. 5 - Chile, Centro Regional de Sismologia para America del Sur, Lima, Peru.

• May 10, 1877, Off North Coast, ChileM8.3 · 2,385 deaths · 87 km
• July 30, 1995, Antofagasta, Calama, Mejillones, ChileM8 · 3 deaths · $1.8 million · 115 houses destroyed · 121 km
• December 7, 1953, Northern, ChileM7.4 · 3 deaths · $7.3 million · 192 km
• November 14, 2007, Tocopilla, Maria Elena, ChileM7.7 · 2 deaths · 68 km
• December 21, 1967, Northern, ChileM7.5 · 1 death · 126 km
• November 20, 1928, Northern, ChileM7.1 · 25 km
• November 3, 1933, ChileM5.5 · 32 km
• July 3, 1836, Cobija, ChileM7.5 · 44 km
• October 4, 1940, Northern, ChileM7.3 · 56 km
• May 15, 1877, Huanillos, Northern, Chile129 km
• November 19, 1873, Antofagasta, Chile148 km
• August 21, 1869, Iquique, ChileM6.8 · 153 km
• June 12, 1878, Northern, Chile159 km
• December 26, 1948, Antofagasta, ChileM7 · 161 km
• July 29, 1957, Antofagasta, ChileM7 · 167 km

Significant earthquakes of 1970The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1970Recent 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 6428. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem794705, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.