ABSTRACT. Westward compressive structures at the oriental margin of the Central Depression, Northern Chile (19°15'S). Westward compressive structures that mark the limit between the Central Depression and the Andean Cordillera at the northernmost part of Chile are here presented. A probable relationship between these structures and the origin of the depression is also discussed. These structures may have generated during the middle to late Miocene as a result of a westward thrust system which conditioned the formation of the Central Depression as a negative relief.