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Where did the Chile earthquake occur?
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May 15, 2024 · Chile earthquake of 1960, the largest earthquake recorded in the 20th century. Originating off the coast of southern Chile on May 22, 1960, the temblor caused substantial damage and loss of life both in that country and—as a result of the tsunamis that it generated—in distant Pacific coastal areas.
- Richard Pallardy
- The cities of Puerto Montt and Valdivia experienced extensive damage. Several coastal towns were inundated by a 25-metre (80-foot) tsunami. The com...
- The Nazca plate is a large tectonic plate that underlies the Pacific Ocean near the western coast of South America. It is subducting under (that is...
- At the bottom of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the Nazca plate is being forced under the South American plate. On May 22, 1960, the stress built up by...
- With a magnitude of 9.5, the earthquake was the most powerful such event of the 20th century. Other recent earthquakes have caused more damage and...
The 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami ( Spanish: Terremoto del 27F) [7] occurred off the coast of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February at 03:34:12 local time (06:34:12 UTC ), having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale, with intense shaking lasting for about three minutes.
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List of earthquakes in Chile - Wikipedia. Chile lies in a region which is adjacent to the fast-moving Nazca Plate, and has high tectonic activity. The records for earlier centuries are apparently incomplete. Of the world's 46 known earthquakes with M ≥ 8.5 since the year 1500, one-third occurred in Chile and are shown in the map to the side.
- Overview
- Earthquake and tsunami
- Damage
Chile earthquake of 2010, severe earthquake that occurred on February 27, 2010, off the coast of south-central Chile, causing widespread damage on land and initiating a tsunami that devastated some coastal areas of the country. Together, the earthquake and tsunami were responsible for more than 500 deaths.
The magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck at 3:34 am. The epicentre was located some 200 miles (325 km) southwest of the Chilean capital of Santiago, and the focus occurred at a depth of about 22 miles (35 km) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The earthquake—resulting from the rupture of a 300- to 375-mile (500- to 600-km) stretch of the fault that separates the South American Plate from the subducting Nazca Plate—was felt as far away as São Paolo, Brazil, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. A 2014 study contended that water pressure built up between the two plates had been the catalyst. The initial event was succeeded in the following weeks by hundreds of aftershocks, many of them of magnitude 5.0 or greater. The temblor was the strongest to strike the region since the magnitude-9.5 event of 1960, considered to be the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. (See Chile earthquake of 1960.)
Because the region’s violent tectonic history had made it a focus of seismological study and monitoring, extant GPS sensors installed in Chile and neighbouring countries allowed the detection of subtle shifts in the location of cities, including Concepción and even Buenos Aires, as a result of the quake. A NASA computer model ascertained that the powerful force of the subducting plate had shifted Earth’s axis sufficiently to shorten the day by more than a microsecond. A study of the aftershocks released in 2014 indicated that two anomalously dense rock structures beneath the South American Plate, previously undetected, had likely slowed the rupture and, as a result, intensified shaking at the surface.
Stress brought on by the convergence of the two tectonic plates caused rocks to shatter along the boundary between them. This forced a portion of the seabed upward, displacing the water above and triggering a tsunami. The Chilean town of Constitución was inundated by waves as high as 50 feet (15 metres), and the port of Talcahuano was damaged by a wave measuring nearly 8 feet (2.4 metres) high. Traveling across the Pacific Ocean at nearly 450 miles (725 km) per hour, the tsunami encountered the Juan Fernández Islands, located approximately 420 miles (675 km) off the coast of Chile. Although observers on the largest of the Juan Fernández Islands reported waves as high as 10 feet (3 metres), the tsunami weakened significantly before it reached the coasts of California, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Japan over the next several hours.
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A study published in August 2014 noted that the temblor triggered small earthquakes in Antarctica. It was the first direct evidence that earthquakes could trigger secondary seismic events in the Antarctic’s ice sheets.
Though damage to structures within the zone of the earthquake was likely limited by stringent building codes instituted in the wake of the 1960 earthquake and revised several times during the 1990s, many buildings still sustained significant damage, including nearly 400,000 homes. Particularly affected were Maule and Biobío, two first-order administrative districts along Chile’s southern coast. Large areas of Biobío were left without major services, including water, electricity, and gas, and the tall buildings of Concepción—the capital of the district and one of Chile’s largest cities—were among those most severely damaged. Copper production—a major contributor to Chile’s economy—was halted at several mines, though it resumed after limited power was restored the day after the quake. The weakened state of the electrical grid became apparent when large swathes of the country—including Santiago, which had already endured a week without power following the catastrophe—were faced with a daylong blackout in mid-March after a major transformer failed.
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Chilean government officials estimated that two million people had been directly affected by the quake. The Chilean National Emergency Office—initially responsible for documenting the casualties—estimated that more than 800 had died. However, as the Interior Ministry reviewed the data in the following weeks, the official total fluctuated significantly as missing persons were located and computational errors were discovered, leading to a reduction of the death toll by hundreds. Official tallies ultimately attributed more than 500 deaths to the disaster; 150 of those casualties were caused by the tsunami. Most fatalities occurred in the Maule district, with further deaths occurring in Biobío and in coastal and island areas damaged by the tsunami. In Concepción the limited availability of food and gasoline led to widespread looting—a phenomenon that later expanded to nonessential items such as televisions—and the consequent arrest of several dozen people. Chilean Pres. Michelle Bachelet arranged for food retailers to distribute necessities free of charge by the next day, but sporadic theft continued into the week as assistance proved slow to arrive. Isolated areas were particularly vulnerable to looting as the need for supplies became increasingly acute.
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake and tsunami (Spanish: Terremoto de Valdivia) or the Great Chilean earthquake ( Gran terremoto de Chile) on 22 May 1960 was the most powerful and most brutal earthquake ever recorded. Most studies have placed it at 9.4–9.6 on the moment magnitude scale, [1] while some studies have placed the magnitude lower than 9.4.
Oct 31, 2023 · Updated 7:01 AM PDT, October 31, 2023. SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck off the coast of northern Chile on Tuesday morning and was felt in several provinces of neighboring Argentina, but there were no immediate reports of damage and authorities said there was no tsunami risk.
Learn about the causes, effects and responses to the magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck central Chile in 2010. The earthquake triggered a tsunami that affected several Pacific countries and caused extensive damage and loss of life.
