On October 28, 1746 CE, a devastating earthquake, estimated at magnitude 8.6–9.0, struck the city of Lima and the port of Callao in the Viceroyalty of Peru. The quake caused widespread destruction, and the resulting tsunami completely destroyed Callao, killing thousands. This was one of the most catastrophic earthquakes in South American history.

The 1746 Lima-Callao earthquake was extensively documented in Spanish colonial reports and religious writings, which used the event to preach about divine punishment and the need for piety. The disaster contributed to a literary tradition in the Americas of interpreting catastrophes as moral lessons. It is a significant event in the history of Latin American literature, where the vulnerability of colonial cities to nature is a recurring theme, influencing the poetry and chronicles of the Baroque period and beyond.