The Valdivia earthquake , the most powerful earthquake ever recorded , occurred on 22 May 1960 . With over 50,000 casualties and more than 2 million people affected , the earthquake forced the organising committee to completely modify the World Cup 's calendar . Talca , Concepción , Talcahuano and Valdivia were severely damaged and discarded as venues . Antofagasta and Valparaíso declined to host any matches as their venues were not financially self-sustainable . Viña del Mar and Arica managed to rebuild their stadiums while Braden Copper Company , then an American company that controlled the El Teniente copper mine , allowed the use of its stadium in Rancagua . Due to these setbacks , this is the World Cup edition with the smallest number of venues spread across the country ( while the 1930 FIFA World Cup was held in three venues , all of them were located in a single city ) . The most used stadium was the Estadio Nacional in Santiago , with 10 matches ; the Estadio Sausalito in Viña del Mar hosted 8 matches , and the stadiums in Rancagua and far-away Arica ( the only location that was not close to the other cities ) both hosted 7 matches
Valdivia earthquake
1960 Valdivia earthquake
1962 FIFA World Cup