October 5, 1871 Tsunami: Northern Chile
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Northern Chile on October 5, 1871 at 09:00 UTC.
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
- October 5, 1871, 09:00 UTC
- Source
- Northern Chile
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- The 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.
October 5, 1871, 00:50. At Iquique a terrible earthquake lasting 2 minutes. A "maremoto" was also recorded at Callao. Seaquakes were felt at 20 deg 14 min S., 71 deg 31 min W., and 20 deg 35 min S., 71 deg 07 min W. However the water did not flood the shore, as is usual in such cases. Sieberg's monograph on the basis of these data on the earthquake of August 21, mistakenly mentions a weak tsunami at Callao. (reference #415)
October 5, 1871, 00:50 UTC, 20.14 S, 71.31 W, magnitude 7.5, Valparaiso. (reference #164)
October 5, 1871, Ships tossed about by waves, according to Fuchs. Montessus de Ballore and Sieberg connected the wave report, almost certainly mistakenly, with a N. Chile quake occurring on Oct 5. (reference #79)
More
Every tsunami in 1871The 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 1029.