July 16, 2026 Tsunami: Biobio Region, Chile

Note: if the event included a meteotsunami, it is likely that the reported heights of up to 10 meters were a combination with other phenomena (i.e. storm surge, swells, etc.) not just meteotsunami. Further investigation is required to determine if a meteotsunami was observed.

Ref #14439 (unofficial translation):

The event, described by authorities and residents as unprecedented in the last 50 years, caused a sharp rise in wave height that flooded homes, swept boats into the streets, and resulted in significant property damage to both homes and local businesses.

"Water started coming in around 7 in the morning. The waves were very strong; they swept the boats that were out front out onto the street," Reinaldo told SABES, clearly distressed.

The mayor of Penco, Rodrigo Vera, provided SABES with a preliminary assessment on-site, describing the scale of the emergency as an event “very similar to a tsunami.”

"We're talking about damage that could extend for more than two kilometers along the entire main street of Cerro Verde. The sea flooded the houses with waves reaching heights of 8 to 10 meters. It's hard to believe, but they came almost as high as a utility pole," explained the local official. The community leader confirmed that more than 80 homes are estimated to have been affected, with at least 10 of them completely destroyed. In addition, the water carried mud and algae, leaving accumulations of more than 50 centimeters on public roads.

Ref #14438 (unofficial translation):

"The meteotsunami swept through, brutally destroying homes almost like a tornado, with great violence […] " [regional governor of Biobío, Sergio Giacaman] said.

He added that 12 homes have been completely destroyed,“

In contrast, in an interview with *La Estrella de Concepción*, Viviana Urbina, a meteorologist at Nimbus Meteorología, ruled out the possibility of a meteotsunami “in the sense that the sea would have had to recede and produce the same effect as a tsunami. In other words, when a storm surge or wave comes, the sea should first recede and then advance.” In this case, what we’re seeing is that because the wind is so intense, it’s a lot of wind pushing and pushing, this creates a kind of cyclonic surge, which is the same thing that happens in the Northern Hemisphere with hurricanes, which are also low-pressure systems that are constantly pushing the sea, and that’s what’s happening here.”

"It's the same phenomenon, but with a different cyclone. Instead of a tropical cyclone, which is what fuels hurricanes, it's an extratropical cyclone," she explained.

The meteorologist noted that “rather than a meteotsunami, given the characteristics of the (frontal) system, it would be a storm surge, a surge caused by the constant wind blowing in this extratropical cyclone that is moving across Chile and will continue to blow in the coming hours.”

She elaborated, “This system is a large low-pressure system off the coast of Chile, and it is triggering all the disturbances arriving from the subtropical zone, which is where the moisture is coming from, thereby increasing precipitation and causing these frontal systems to be so powerful and intense.”