January 28, 1878 Tsunami: Central Chile
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Central Chile on January 28, 1878. Its effects were recorded at 5 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
- January 28, 1878
- Source
- Central Chile
- Cause
- Unknown
- Runups recorded
- 5
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 1.5
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 33.000° S, 71.600° W
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
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.
January 28-30, 1878, event validity questionable, tsunami intensity 1.5. At Valparaiso, with still and splendid
weather there was such a strong surf, that a new road was washed out; nobody drowned. It was also reported that the sea raged for three days and encroached inland at Caldera, Chaiiaral, Iquique, and Pisagua; some damage was done here and there. In particular, on the 28th, from 5:00 to 8:00 at the lighthouse at Caldera, there was an unusual disturbance of the sea, which rose 25 m [along the horizontal?] beyond the highest flood tides. [It is possible that this and the next two events (February 3 and 4, 1878) are connected.]
(reference #415)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valparaiso | Chile | 5 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Caldera | Chile | 662 | 25 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Chanaral | Chile | 739 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Iquique | Chile | 1,424 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Pisagua | Chile | 1,491 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1878The 1800sTsunamis of ChileThis 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 1092.