The 8.3-extent tremor was focused off the coast, around 144 miles (232km) north-west of the capital.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cautioned that "far reaching dangerous wave waves are conceivable".
One individual was murdered by a falling divider, and clearing was requested in waterfront ranges. Tidal wave sirens were heard in the port of Valparaiso.
Chilean authorities say the seismic tremor has created floods of up to 4.5 meters (15 feet) along the coast in the locale of Coquimbo.
The seismic tremor struck simply off the coast at 19:54 nearby times (22:54 GMT), around 55km west of the city of Illapel, the US Geological Survey said.
Authorities said it was at the profundity of around 10km.
The US Geological Survey at first reported the tremor as size 7.9, however then immediately updated the perusing to 8.3.
A few solid post-quake tremors were accounted for minutes after the fact.
Illapel Mayor Denis Cortes reported that one individual was slaughtered by a giving way divider, and 15 other individuals were harmed.
A few homes were allegedly harmed in the city.
"Tidal wave waves coming to more than three meters over the tide level are conceivable along a few shorelines of Chile," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cautioned.
The seismic tremor struck as a large number of Chileans have been going to the coast in front of a week of festivities of the national occasions, or Fiestas Patrias.
Torrent alarms were additionally issued for Peru, Hawaii, parts of California and as far away as New Zealand.
New Zealand powers cautioned of strangely solid streams and eccentric water streams, reported nearby media. No less than one school has cleared.
The tremor was additionally emphatically felt in some Argentine regions like Mendoza and in the capital Buenos Aires a few structures were emptied, the BBC's Ignacio de los Reyes reports.
Chile is a standout amongst the most seismically dynamic areas on the globe.
It keeps running along the limit between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates. These are endless chunks of the Earth's surface that pound past one another at a rate of up to 80mm for each year.
In February 2010, a 8.8-greatness struck off focal Chile, murdering more than 500 individuals.
