The Western Coast of South America has gained notoriety for being the most active seismic area. It has been the zone of frequent shocks, some of great violence and destructiveness.
There was a violent earthquake in Peru on October 28, 1746, which destroyed the capital town of Lima, killing 4000 city dwellers. Chile had experienced a very destructive earthquake on May 24, 1751 in which the coast was devastated by the sea wave that swept the entire coastal area.
Chile was visited by other disastrous earthquakes in 1822, 1835 and 1837. Out of these the earthquakes that occurred in 1835 played havoc by producing a destructive water wave (tsunami).
Another earthquake occurred in Peru and Equador in 1868, which devastated a strip of the country 3200 km long. The main causative factor in case of most of these earthquakes was the subsidence of the sea floor along the steeply rising coast.