May 7, 1647 Tsunami: S. Peru

Name: May 7, 1647 Tsunami: S. Peru
Start: 1647-05-07
Location: S. Peru

May 7, 1647 · 14 deaths · Questionable tsunami

A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at S. Peru on May 7, 1647. Its effects were recorded at 2 places in at least 2 countries. It killed 14 people.

Where the waves reached

The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.

Under 1 m
1 to 3 m
3 to 10 m
10 to 30 m
30 m and more
Height not recorded

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date: May 7, 1647
Source: S. Peru
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: The earthquake
Runups recorded: 2
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 2
Tsunami magnitude (Iida): 1.5
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Questionable tsunami
Source location: 15.500° S, 75.000° W

The toll

Deaths: 14
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.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

1947, May 7 (date unreliable). Validity 2. The catalogues (Perrey, 1854 c; Montessus de Ballore, 1912) contain a detailed description of a catastrophic earthquake on May 13, 1647, in the Santiago and the neighbouring areas of Chile. One of the accounts about this earthquake dated July 12, 1648, refers to other unusual natural occurrences during that year, including the following:

In Cusco (Peru) an earthquake occurred which caused damage in the immediate shore area but not farther inland. On the day of the earthquake, the water level rose with such force at the Callao Pier that part of the breakwater was carried away.

On May 7, the vessel "St. Nikolai" which carried cargo from La-Ligua, was smashed in the port of Arica as a result of an unusually forceful rise in the sea level, yet without any evident signs of a storm; 14 persons perished and material losses exceeded 200,000 pesos (francs).

Strange and unusual movements of the sea were reported by fishermen from all ports along this entire coast. The ocean waves were sufficiently high to submerge the highest hills on shore.

Short descriptions of the tsunami are given in the catalogues (Davison, 1936; Montandon, 1962; Iida et al., 1967).

(above from reference #415)

1647, May 7. Source area unknown. Tsunami in Callao, Peru. Unusual waves in connection with records of a major Santiago quake on May 13. (reference #79)

1647, May 7. Validity 3. 14.2 S, 75.7 W, runup height 2.8 m, tsunami intensity 2. (reference #552)

Every runup

Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.

Where	Country	Km from source	Water height, m	Inland, m	Measured by	First wave, UTC	Deaths
Callao	Peru	447			Eyewitness observation of water height
Arica	Chile	596			Eyewitness observation of water height		14

Every tsunami in 1647 The 1600s Tsunamis of Peru The earthquake This day in weather history Alerts in force

Sources

Tsunami events and runups 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 tsunami event 263.