July 3, 1836 Tsunami: Northern Chile
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake began at Northern Chile on July 3, 1836. Its effects were recorded at 2 places.
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
The tsunami
- Date
- July 3, 1836
- Source
- Northern Chile
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.5
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 1
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 22.600° S, 70.300° W
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.
July (or June) 3, 1836, at midnight. At Cobija (northern Chile) a strong surge was felt on a ship, riding at anchor. The sea beat powerfully on the rocks in the bay. The surge gradually increased; by 7:00 it had grown many times over and broke on the beach with great force, although the breeze had not become stronger. These flood tide phenomena were attributed by the residents to an earthquake, the shock of which was felt on land with a certain intensity at about 8:30. The earthquake was not noticed on board the ship, or even on a small peninsula to the south of the bay, connected to shore by a sand bar. In other compendia, it is more definitely stated that an earthquake was felt at Antofagasta and Cobija and was accompanied by a tsunami. (reference #415)
July 3, 1836, Chile. Earthquake felt at Cobija and Antofagasta. The earthquake was accompanied
by a sea wave. (reference #39)
July 3, 1836, 13:06 UTC, 22.6 S, 70.3 W, magnitude 7.5, runup height 2 m. Note: the runup helght was approximated from the reported tsunami magnitude or the tsunami intensity using the formulae below (see Tsunami Magnitude and Tsunami Intensity). (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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cobija | Chile | 6 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Antofagasta | Chile | 117 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1836The 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 697.