The terms of that treaty required that Bolivia not levy taxes on Chilean companies mining nitrates between the 23rd and 24th parallels (including the city of Antofagasta) for 25 years, except for agreed duties to be shared between the two countries.

[4] Following extensive damage in the 1877 earthquake and tsunami, the municipal authorities in Antofagasta voted for a tax of 10 centavos per quintal (approximately 46 kg or 101 lb) of nitrates exported to fund reconstruction of the town.

This dispute resulted in the War of the Pacific, fought from 1879 to 1884,[4] by which Chile gained control of territory as far north as Tacna, including Bolivia's entire coastline.

[citation needed] The hulk of the U.S. gunboat Wateree, which had been beached hundreds of metres inland by the final wave of the tsunami triggered by the 1868 Arica earthquake, was moved several kilometres to the north along the coast and nearer the shoreline.

[1] The tsunami affected the coasts of Peru and northern Chile and was observed across the Pacific Ocean, in Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Hawaii, Mexico, California and Japan.