The 1949 Tierra del Fuego earthquake was a seismic movement that took place in the island of Tierra del Fuego, on 17 December 1949, at 06:53:30 AM. It recorded magnitude 7.8 in the Richter scale. Its epicenter was located in the east of the Chilean Tierra del Fuego Province close to the Argentine border at a depth of 30 km.
This was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the south of Argentina. It was felt with grade VIII in the Mercalli intensity scale, and affected the settlements and some others like Punta Arenas and Río Gallegos.