February 14, 1878 Tsunami: Central Chile
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Central Chile on February 14, 1878. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.
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
- February 14, 1878
- Source
- Central Chile
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 0
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- -0.5
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 36.800° S, 73.000° 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.
February 14, 1878, at 4:00 local time, the steamship "Chile" experienced a "terrible" shock in Concepcion Bay (Talcahuano). The ship almost sank in the three enormous waves which accompanied this shock. (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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concepcion Bay (Talcahuano) | Chile | 12 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1878The 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 1097.