October 5, 1973 Earthquake: Valparaiso, LA Ligua, Santiago, Chile

Date

October 5, 1973

Time

05:47:51 UTC

Place

Valparaiso, LA Ligua, Santiago, Chile

Magnitude

6.7 (Ms)

Focal depth

14 km (9 mi)

Intensity

7 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

Yes: the tsunami it caused

Epicenter

32.500° S, 71.500° W

Country

Chile

Damage

Moderate (about $1 to $5 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 17, 1906, South Central, ChileM8.2 · 4,000 deaths · $100 million · 73 km
• May 14, 1647, Santiago, ChileM8.5 · 1,000 deaths · 300 houses destroyed · 131 km
• March 28, 1965, Central, ChileM7.3 · 400 deaths · $125 million · 30 km
• March 3, 1985, Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso, ChileM8 · 180 deaths · $1.5 billion · 73 km
• July 9, 1971, Central, ChileM7.8 · 83 deaths · $236.4 million · 28 km
• November 20, 1822, Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua, ChileM8.5 · 72 deaths · 73 km
• September 16, 2015, Central, ChileM8.3 · 15 deaths · $600 million · 2,305 houses destroyed · 104 km
• October 15, 1997, Pueblo Nuevo, Coquimbo, LA Chimba, ChileM7.1 · 8 deaths · $48 million · 5,000 houses destroyed · 176 km
• September 4, 1958, Chile-ArgentinaM6.8 · 7 deaths · 193 km
• July 8, 1730, Valparaiso, ChileM9.1 · 5 deaths · 0 km
• April 17, 2012, Valparaiso, ChileM6.7 · 2 deaths · 19 km
• August 15, 1880, Illapel, ChileM7.7 · 2 deaths · 600 houses destroyed · 102 km
• April 9, 1985, Near Central Coast, Santiago-Valparaiso, ChileM7.5 · 2 deaths · 182 km
• March 17, 1985, Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, ChileM6.6 · 1 death · 19 km
• August 2, 2017, Santiago, ChileM5.4 · 1 death · 114 km

Significant earthquakes of 1973The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1973Recent 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 4644.