M8.1 earthquake near Cañete, Biobio

What happened

A magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck 4 km ESE of Cañete, Chile on 21 May 1960, 10:02 UTC at a depth of 25 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Great. Can cause severe damage across hundreds of kilometres and may trigger tsunamis. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Cañete, about 4 km away in Biobio, Chile.