1960 Valdivia: The Largest Earthquake In History

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:00]On May 22nd, 1960, southern Chile was struck by the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. A staggering magnitude 9.5. The ground convulsed for over 10 minutes, tearing apart cities and reshaping the landscape. Entire neighborhoods collapsed as seismic waves rippled across the country. Rivers changed course. Landslides buried towns.

[00:00:21]But the destruction did not stop there.

[00:00:23]The earthquake triggered a massive Pacificwide tsunami that raced across the ocean, striking Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines hours later. Coastal communities were flattened thousands of miles away. With more than 1,600 people killed in Chile and many more across the Pacific, the Valdivia earthquake remains the most powerful seismic event in recorded human