1686 Tsunami: Chile
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Chile in 1686.
Where the waves reached
The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
The tsunami
- Date
- 1686
- Source
- Chile
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Erroneous entry
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this tsunami.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
In 1686 there was "a terrible earthquake in Chile, which affected the country in a north-south direction for 1200 km (300 leagues), toppling mountains, changing the course of rivers and resulting in the inundation and destruction of towns". [Evidently, contradictory information, and the reference is to the tsunami of October 20, 1687]. (reference #415)
Reference #552 lists the event in Peru.
More
Every tsunami in 1686The 1600sTsunamis of ChileAlerts 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 334.