July 9, 1971 Tsunami: Central Chile
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake began at Central Chile on July 9, 1971 at 03:03:18 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.6 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 83 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
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
- July 9, 1971, 03:03:18 UTC
- Source
- Central Chile
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.8, 58 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.6 m (2.0 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 0
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 0.3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 32.500° S, 71.200° W
The toll
- Deaths
- 83 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 447 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- $236.4 million with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 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.
On July 9 [mistakenly listed as 7] 1971 at 22:03 [local time] a catastrophic earthquake of magnitude 7.5 occurred in Chile (32.5 S, 71.2 W, depth 58 km) leaving 84 people dead, 447 injured, and 40,OOO homeless. The epicenter was 75 km northwest of Santiago. This earthquake caused a weak tsunami with a height of 1.2 m which was observed in Valparaiso. (reference #417)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valparaiso | Chile | 72 | 0.6 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 1971The 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 2033.