Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Unit Post Earthquakes: 1960 Great Chilean Earthquake



The largest earthquake ever recorded occurred on May 22, 1960 at 7:11. It's magnitude was measured at a 9.5. The quake caused tsunamis and landslides which contributed to the death toll. And the aftershocks which reached as high as 7.9, definitely could have triggered the eruption of the volcano Pueyhue, which erupted only 2 days later. They estimated that all of these forces combined killed 1,655 people, with 3,000 injured and 2,000,000 homeless. It caused damage in southern Chile, Japan, The Philippines, Hawaii, and the United State's western coast.


The quake occurred over the subduction zone between the South American (oceanic) and Nazca (continental) plates. The epicenter was on the ocean floor, approximately 100 miles off of the coast of Chile, which is right over the plate boundary.



Sources:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1960_05_22.php

http://earthquakes.suite101.com/article.cfm/worlds_strongest_earthquake

No comments:

Post a Comment