On September 16 , 2015 , at 22:54:33 UTC ( 19:54:33 local time ) , a great earthquake of magnitude 8.3 hit the area , with an epicenter west of Illapel . The earthquake caused physical damage , the loss of human lives , forced the evacuation of one million people from the coast ( some sources mistakenly claimed a million people evacuated from Santiago ) , and a tsunami warning was issued for parts of South America , Hawaii , California and French Polynesia . Copper prices spiked in early trading , on fears of supply disruption
great earthquake
2015 Illapel earthquake
Illapel