April 12, 1819 Tsunami: Northern Chile
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8.5 earthquake began at Northern Chile on April 12, 1819 at 03:00 UTC. The water rose as high as 4 meters. Its effects were recorded at 9 places in at least 3 countries.
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
Travel times
How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.
The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.
- 1 to 4 hours
- 5 to 6 hours
- 7 to 14 hours
- 15 hours and more
Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.
The tsunami
- Date
- April 12, 1819, 03:00 UTC
- Source
- Northern Chile
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 8.5
- Maximum water height
- 4 m (13.1 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 9
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 2
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 2
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 27.000° S, 71.500° W
The toll
- Deaths
- Few (about 1 to 50) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million); Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100); Many (101 to 1,000) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
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.
On April 11, 1819, at 23:00 [local time] (27 S, 71.5 W, magnitude 8), an exceptionally severe earthquake, which was preceded by a frightening rumbling sound, completely destroyed the city.
The area in which the earthquake of April 11 had originated, gave rise to a tsunami which was recorded over a distance of 800 km, including in Huasco. At first the ocean receded a little, but it quickly swept back over the land, penetrating in places up to 600 m beyond the high water line. Caldera sustained considerable damage. After the tsunami, the inhabitants went to the shore to dig for copper ingots which had been washed away by the waves.
At Concepcion, the rising waves advanced up the River Bio-Bio; on the 12th at 02:00 the anchorlines of the schooner "La Fortuna" were broken by the ebb and flow currents and the schooner ended up being grounded on rocks.
On the western shore of the island of Hawaii, nine oscillations of the sea level were noted, starting with an ebb and occurring at intervals of 10-11 minutes. The water level rose up to 2 m, but there were no casualties. In Honolulu the sea level rose and fell 13 times within a few hours.
It is possible that the tsunami was also recorded on the island of Mangareva.
(above from reference #415)
April 11, 1819, 03:00 UTC, 27 S, 71.5 W, magnitude 8.5. (reference #552)
April 11, 1819, 15:00 UTC, 27.35 S, 71.35 W, magnitude 8.3, generated a tsunami. (reference #1206)
[Also see Chilean earthquakes on March 30, 1796; August 24, 1798; April 3, 1819; April 4, 1819.]
This event is erroneously listed in several catalogs as occurring in May. (reference #79 and referece #3718)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caldera | Chile | 67 | 300 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Huasco | Chile | 165 | 600 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Concepcion | Chile | 1,100 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Mangareva Island | French Polynesia | 6,350 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Hilo, Hawaii, HI, HI | United States | 10,383 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Kahului, Maui, HI, HI | United States | 10,572 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Hakaaano, Molokai, HI, HI | United States | 10,615 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Honolulu, Oahu, HI, HI | United States | 10,722 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| W. Hawaii Island, HI, HI | United States | 2 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1819The 1800sTsunamis of ChileThe earthquakeThis day in weather historyAlerts 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 626.