Valdivia

Earthquakes near Valdivia through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 13 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Valdivia, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. One stands far above the rest: a magnitude 9.5 on May 22, 1960 (1960 Great Chilean Earthquake (Valdivia Earthquake)). The next strongest reached 8.5.

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The last 30 days · as of

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

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What the record holds

It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 2,226 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 7 here, back to 1520. NOAA records deaths in 3 of the events here, 3,549 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.7 on May 10, 1975 (44 km SSE of Cañete, Chile). NOAA’s record here begins in 1520 with an earthquake. It grows thinner going back: 3 of the 7 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 2 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Valdivia, and 6 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 15 m, on May 22, 1960. The deadliest, on December 16, 1575, killed 1,300 people here by NOAA’s runup records.

The events

  • May 10, 1975Earthquake · M 7.744 km SSE of Cañete, ChileUSGS · NOAA NCEI
  • May 22, 1960Earthquake · M 9.51960 Great Chilean Earthquake (Valdivia Earthquake) · 2,226 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • May 22, 1960Tsunami · 15 m hereSouthern Chile · 133 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • December 16, 1575Earthquake · M 8.5 (est.)Valdivia · 1,321 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • December 16, 1575TsunamiSouthern Chile · 1,300 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • 1520EarthquakeNOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Valdivia 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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