January 25, 1939 Tsunami: Central Chile
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8.3 earthquake began at Central Chile on January 25, 1939 at 03:32:14 UTC. It killed 30,000 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
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
- January 25, 1939, 03:32:14 UTC
- Source
- Central Chile
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 8.3, 60 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 36.250° S, 72.250° W
The toll
- Deaths
- 30,000 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- $920 million with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Very many (over 1,000) 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.
No tsunami and no coastal uplift were described. (reference #252)
January 25, 1939, 03:32 UTC, 36.3 N, 72.3 W, depth 60 km, magnitude 8.3 MS. (reference #164)
More
Every tsunami in 1939The 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 1729.