May 4, 1923 Tsunami: Northern Chile
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7 earthquake began at Northern Chile on May 4, 1923 at 22:26:45 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
- May 4, 1923, 22:26:45 UTC
- Source
- Northern Chile
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7, 60 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Erroneous entry
- Source location
- 28.750° S, 71.750° W
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- Some (about 51 to 100) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
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.
May 4, 1923, 17:47:40. Apparently, this was the strongest aftershock of the earthquake of 10.XI.1922. A Japanese catalogue (Anon., 1961) indicates that after the earthquake, a tsunami fell on the coast of Chile. Validity is possibly erroneous. Gutenberg, Richter (1954): 4.V; 22h26m45s; 28 3/4 deg S., 71 3/4 deg W.; 60 km; M=7. (reference #415)
May 4, 1923, 22:27 UTC, 28.7 S, 71.7 W, depth 60 km, magnitude 7 MS. (reference #552)
May 4 or 7, 1923, 22:27 UTC, 28.75 S, 71.75 W, depth 60 km, magnitude 7, place of observation at Atacama, Chile. Kawasumi (1963) lists a tsunami with this quake and the Japan Meteorological Agency (Anon. 1961) apparently copied the listing from an earlier edition but associated it with the next earlier date in Kawasumi's list (May 4). The tsunami does not appear in any other publication and is considered by doubtful. (reference #79)
More
Every tsunami in 1923The 1900sTsunamis 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 1518.