Iquique

Earthquakes near Iquique through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 31 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Iquique, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 8 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 8.3 on May 10, 1877 (Off North Coast).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Iquique in the last 30 days.

The latest: magnitude 4.9 on October 14 (16 km WSW of La Tirana, Chile).

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What the record holds

It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 2,385 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 25 here, back to 1615. NOAA records deaths in 6 of the events here, 2,559 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.7 on April 3, 2014 (53 km SW of Iquique, Chile). NOAA’s record here begins on September 16, 1615 with an earthquake (Arica). 17 of the 25 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 14 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Iquique, and 4 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 12 m, on August 13, 1868. The deadliest here came on May 10, 1877 from a magnitude 8.3 earthquake (Northern Chile): NOAA’s runup records count 230 deaths within 100 km of Iquique.

The events

  • April 3, 2014Earthquake · M 7.753 km SW of Iquique, ChileUSGS · NOAA NCEI
  • April 1, 2014Earthquake · M 8.293 km NW of Iquique, Chile · 7 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • May 10, 1877Earthquake · M 8.3 (est.)Off North Coast · 2,385 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • May 10, 1877Tsunami · 10 m hereNorthern Chile · 230 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • August 13, 1868Tsunami · 12 m hereNorthern Chile · 150 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • September 16, 1615Earthquake · M 7.5 (est.)AricaNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia

Good to know

  • An event counts for Iquique when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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