December 19, 1986 Earthquake: Central, Valparaiso, Chile

Date

December 19, 1986

Time

05:47:29 UTC

Place

Central, Valparaiso, Chile

Magnitude

5 (mb)

Focal depth

33 km (21 mi)

Intensity

3 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

33.071° S, 72.084° W

Country

Chile

Injuries

Some (about 51 to 100)

Damage

Limited (under about $1 million)

Houses destroyed

16

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 · 11 km
• May 14, 1647, Santiago, ChileM8.5 · 1,000 deaths · 300 houses destroyed · 143 km
• March 28, 1965, Central, ChileM7.3 · 400 deaths · $125 million · 111 km
• March 3, 1985, Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso, ChileM8 · 180 deaths · $1.5 billion · 36 km
• July 9, 1971, Central, ChileM7.8 · 83 deaths · $236.4 million · 104 km
• November 20, 1822, Valparaiso, Quillota, Concon, Aconcagua, ChileM8.5 · 72 deaths · 11 km
• September 16, 2015, Central, ChileM8.3 · 15 deaths · $600 million · 2,305 houses destroyed · 171 km
• September 4, 1958, Chile-ArgentinaM6.8 · 7 deaths · 199 km
• July 8, 1730, Valparaiso, ChileM9.1 · 5 deaths · 84 km
• April 17, 2012, Valparaiso, ChileM6.7 · 2 deaths · 83 km
• April 9, 1985, Near Central Coast, Santiago-Valparaiso, ChileM7.5 · 2 deaths · 126 km
• August 15, 1880, Illapel, ChileM7.7 · 2 deaths · 600 houses destroyed · 182 km
• March 17, 1985, Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, ChileM6.6 · 1 death · 67 km
• October 16, 1981, Off Central Coast, Las Cruces, ChileM7.5 · 1 death · 92 km
• August 2, 2017, Santiago, ChileM5.4 · 1 death · 137 km

Significant earthquakes of 1986The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1986Recent 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 5120.