February 20, 1835 Tsunami: Central Chile

Reference #415:

1835, February 20, (approximately 11:30). There was a destructive earthquake (37N 73W, mag 8.25) and tsunami in the center part of Chile with its source near Concepcion.

When the earthquake began, the whole surface of water in Concepcion (Talcahuano) Bay churned. The water darkened and gave off the very unpleasant odor of hydrogen sulphide. At approximately one half hour after the earthquake, the water in the bay receded to the point where all rocks and reefs were laid bare. Then it flooded once more and again receded so that vessels anchored in the bay appeared to be on dry land. Then a huge wave, from the island of Quiriquina, passed along the west shore of the bay, shearing off houses, uprooting trees, sweeping and carrying away everything that was movable... After several minutes a second huge wave appeared, approaching with an even more terrifying noise and violence than the first. Despite the enormity of the wave, its passage was less destructive since there was little left to destroy... After several minutes of tense expectancy, the inhabitants, who had taken refuge on higher ground, saw a third wave rolling between the island of Quiriquina and the mainland.. This wave appeared even larger than the two previous ones (by other accounts, it was somewhat smaller); it roared, dashing against obstacles and carrying along everything in its path. Then suddenly, as if repulsed by the foothills, the water receded, carrying away such a huge quantity of articles snatched from houses (partitions, furniture, etc.), that after the ebb, the whole ocean appeared to be covered with this wreckage. This disaster prompted the inhabitants to begin noticing approaching waves when they were still 5-7 km away from shore.

Waves were reported along the coast from Valparaiso to the island of Chiloe, a distance of more than 1000 km.

In Talcahuano Bay, one woman took to a boat with her son, but...the boat split and the woman drowned. Near Niebla Port, Valdivia, a man and a woman drowned, apparently while collecting shellfish.

A segment of the Chilean coast in the earthquake focal zone was elevated. The bay at Talcahuano became shallower while the shore of the bay was lifted approximately 1 m. The coast at San Vicente rose 0.5 m. Santa Maria Island rose 2.5-3 m in the middle, 3 m in the north, 2.5 m in the south. Mocha Island rose 0.5 m. Then the elevated block slowly subsided and after 2 months the rise of the shores at Talchuano was reduced to 0.5 m. This subsidence apparently came to a stop simultaneously with the cessation of the aftershocks.

Reference #3903:

"[Charles] Darwin described the tidal wave at Valdivia in 1835, again following a severe earthquake, as producing a quiet rapid rise and rapid fall...[At Concepcion] Thirty minutes after the earthquake the sea retired so far as to strand ships in 7 fathoms of water. All the reefs came into view. Then the return wave poured in thirty feet above high tide. Two others followed, some minutes apart, and progressively bigger. Then for several days there were small oscillations."

Reference #5324:

1835, February 20th, 15:30 UTC. Central Chile: -36.5, -72.60. Validity 4. ML 8.1, MS 8.5.

A destructive earthquake occurred at about 11:30 A.M. near Concepcion in the southern part of Chile and generated a tsunami that was destructive along the Central Chile coast. It reportedly did moderate damage on Kauai Island. (Soloviev and Go, 1975, p. 58 & 65; Iida et al., 1967; Pararas-Carayannis and Calebaugh, 1977). Although the tsunami might well have been big enough to have been observed in Hawaii, Cox (1988) has not found any contemporary reports of its actual observance there. There are no other reports of its observation outside of Chile. (ITDB, 2004) According to the ITDB (2004) database, the maximum observed run-up was 24 m at Coelema.