The world's largest earthquake with an instrumentally documented magnitude.
"The Great Chilean Earthquake" occured on May 22, 1960 near Valdivia, in Southern Chile and was assigned with a magnitude of 9.5 by the United States Geological Survey (U.S.G.S)
The quake occured beneath the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile, it was a megathrust earrthquake the originated at a depth of around 20 miles where the oceanic Nazca Plate is subducting beneath the continental South American Plate producing a 500 mile long rupture zone.
The Chilean Government estimated about 2,000,000 people were left homeless.
Series of tsunamis were generated by the earthquake killing many, alike with the Tohoku quake of Japan. These tsunamis inflicted damage along the Chilean coastline with waves of up to 25 meters. The main tsunami raced across the Pacific Ocean and caused great damage to Hilo of Hawaii. Waves as high as 10.7 meters were recorded 10,000 kilometers from where the earthquake started. These waves travelled as far as Japan and the Phillipines.
The tsunami that struck the coast of southern Chile destroyed seaside farms, killing numerous livestock and people. Barns and industrial structures were also destroyed by the quake. However, the dairy industry was among the few industries of the affected zone that received subsidies and investment after the earthquake. It received state support through a long-term policy by the German and Danish governments.
It has been estimated that about 40% of the houses in Valdivia were destroyed. The most affected structures were those made of concrete as in some instances, some houses collapses completely due to the lack of earthquake engineering.
The earthquake also triggered numerous landslides, but did not cause many fatalities nor significant economical loss as most of the areas were uninhabited, with only minor roads.
"The Great Chilean Earthquake" occured on May 22, 1960 near Valdivia, in Southern Chile and was assigned with a magnitude of 9.5 by the United States Geological Survey (U.S.G.S)
The quake occured beneath the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile, it was a megathrust earrthquake the originated at a depth of around 20 miles where the oceanic Nazca Plate is subducting beneath the continental South American Plate producing a 500 mile long rupture zone.
The Chilean Government estimated about 2,000,000 people were left homeless.
Series of tsunamis were generated by the earthquake killing many, alike with the Tohoku quake of Japan. These tsunamis inflicted damage along the Chilean coastline with waves of up to 25 meters. The main tsunami raced across the Pacific Ocean and caused great damage to Hilo of Hawaii. Waves as high as 10.7 meters were recorded 10,000 kilometers from where the earthquake started. These waves travelled as far as Japan and the Phillipines.
The tsunami that struck the coast of southern Chile destroyed seaside farms, killing numerous livestock and people. Barns and industrial structures were also destroyed by the quake. However, the dairy industry was among the few industries of the affected zone that received subsidies and investment after the earthquake. It received state support through a long-term policy by the German and Danish governments.
It has been estimated that about 40% of the houses in Valdivia were destroyed. The most affected structures were those made of concrete as in some instances, some houses collapses completely due to the lack of earthquake engineering.
The earthquake also triggered numerous landslides, but did not cause many fatalities nor significant economical loss as most of the areas were uninhabited, with only minor roads.