April 18, 1939 Tsunami: Northern Chile
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake began at Northern Chile on April 18, 1939 at 06:22:45 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
- April 18, 1939, 06:22:45 UTC
- Source
- Northern Chile
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.4, 100 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 27.000° S, 70.500° 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.
April 18, 1939, 06:23 UTC, 27 S, 70.5 W, magnitude 7.4 MS, depth 100 km. (reference #164)
April 18, 1939, 06:23 UTC, 27 S, 70.5 W, magnitude 7.4 MS, depth 100 km. (reference #552)
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 1732.