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Aerial view of coastal area showing tsunami damage and runup height/wave extent (10 m; 33 ft) on Isla Chiloe, Chile. Two hundred deaths were reported here from the tsunami. The inhabitants, fearing the earthquake, climbed into small boats to escape the shaking. Just ten to fifteen minutes after the earthquake, the trough of the tsunami arrived along more than 500 m of the coast. Upon the return of the sea in a thunderous breaker, all boats were lost. The most serious effects occurred in an area extending from Concepcion on the Chilean coast to the south end of Isla Chiloe. Image Credit: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center May 22, 1960 Puerto Montt, Valdivia Chile earthquake and tsunami On May 22, 1960, a Mw 9.5 earthquake, the largest earthquake ever instrumentally recorded, occurred in southern Chile. The series of earthquakes that followed ravaged southern Chile and ruptured over a period of days a 1,000 km section of the fault, one of the longest ruptures ever reported. The number of fatalities associated with both the earthquake and tsunami has been estimated to be between 490 and 5,700. Reportedly there were 3,000 injured, and initially there were 717 missing in Chile. The Chilean government estimated 2,000,000 people were left homeless and 58,622 houses were completely destroyed. Damage (including tsunami damage) was more than $500 million U.S. dollars. Event Data:
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