May 21, 1960 Tsunami: Central Chile
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake began at Central Chile on May 21, 1960 at 10:02:50 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 7 places in at least 2 countries.
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
Travel times
How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.
The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.
- 1 to 4 hours
- 5 to 6 hours
- 7 to 14 hours
- 15 hours and more
Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.
The tsunami
- Date
- May 21, 1960, 10:02:50 UTC
- Source
- Central Chile
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 8.2, 35 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.5 m (1.6 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 7
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- -1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 37.872° S, 73.243° W
The toll
- Deaths
- Few (about 1 to 50) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- Many (about 101 to 1,000) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) 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 21, 1960, 10:02:50 UTC, 37.5 S, 73.5 W, magnitude 7.5 MS. A very small tsunami of scientific interest only, was generated a day earlier [May 21, 1960] by a foreshock centered at 37.5 south, 73.5 west. The wave was detectable on some tide records from Chile, the Hawaiian Islands and the west coast of the United States. (reference #45)
A strong preliminary earthquake occurred on May 21 [1960] at 6:00; it was accompanied by a mild tsunami. (reference #415)
May 21, 1960, 10:03 UTC, 37.5 S, 73.5 W, magnitude 7.5 MS. Valapraiso, Chile runup height 0.3 m. (reference #79)
May 21, 1960, 10:01 UTC, 37.5 S, 73.5 W, magnitude 7.5 MS, depth 33 km. (reference #164)
The amplitudes of the tsunamis triggered by the 21 May Concepcion earthquake along the Chilean coast were small, reaching no more than 50 cm in Talcahuano but mainly less than 10 cm elsewhere. These values are significantly less than the local tide ranges of 1.5–2 m, which may explain why the 21May tsunamis were not reported by eyewitnesses. (reference #12877)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talcahuano | Chile | 131 | 0.5 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Valparaiso | Chile | 557 | 0.3 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 13:00 | ||
| Coquimbo | Chile | 896 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Caldera | Chile | 1,220 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Antofagasta | Chile | 1,600 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Arica | Chile | 2,168 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Hilo, Hawaii, HI, HI | United States | 10,647 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 22, 00:44 |
More
Every tsunami in 1960The 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 1901.