Santiago

Earthquakes near Santiago, 1927–2026

From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 15 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Santiago, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 7 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 8 on March 3, 1985 (25 km WSW of Valparaíso, Chile).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Santiago in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.4 on March 28, 1965 (7 km SSE of La Ligua, Chile), for which NOAA records 400 deaths. 8 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 6 of the events here, 673 in all. The ten years with the most magnitude 6+ earthquakes were 1977–1986, with 7 of the 15. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.4 on August 2, 2017 (8 km NNE of Chicureo Abajo, Chile). NOAA lists 3 tsunamis from elsewhere that reached the coast within 100 km of Santiago with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 5.53 m, on February 27, 2010.

The events

  • August 2, 2017Earthquake · M 5.48 km NNE of Chicureo Abajo, Chile · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
  • February 27, 2010Tsunami · 5.53 m hereCentral ChileNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • March 3, 1985Earthquake · M 8.025 km WSW of Valparaíso, Chile · 180 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • July 9, 1971Earthquake · M 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, Chile · 83 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • March 28, 1965Earthquake · M 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, Chile · 400 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia

Good to know

  • An event counts for Santiago 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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