Earthquake in Chile 2010

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Earthquake in Chile 2010
Earthquake in Chile 2010 (Chile)
Bullseye1.svg
Coordinates 35 ° 50 '46 "  S , 72 ° 43' 8"  W Coordinates: 35 ° 50 '46 "  S , 72 ° 43' 8"  W.
date February 27, 2010
Time 3:34 a.m. local time (6:34 a.m. UTC )
intensity IX  on the MM scale
Magnitude 8.8  M W
depth 35 km
epicenter Región del Maule
(105 km north-northeast of Concepción )
country Chile
Affected places
Tsunami Yes
dead 521
Injured 12,000
damage $ 30 billion

The 2010 earthquake in Chile was a megathrust earthquake off the coast of the Maule region in Chile . It occurred on February 27 at 3:34 a.m. local time (6:34 a.m. UTC ) about 105 km north-northeast of the city of Concepción . The quake was followed by a tsunami that struck large stretches of coastline in the VII and VIII regions of Chile (Maule and Bío-Bío). The quake had a magnitude of 8.8 M w on the moment magnitude scale and was the strongest earthquake in Chile for almost 50 years and the sixth strongest earthquake ever recorded worldwide since seismic records began in 1900. Chile's President Michelle Bachelet declared the affected areas a state of disaster . The hypocenter of the quake was estimated by the US geology authority USGS about 35 km below the earth's surface, other sources speak of 47.4 and 24 km respectively. According to the USGS, more than 70 aftershocks with a strength of at least 4.9 were registered within 24 hours, several of them stronger than 6.0. On the following days further moderate to strong aftershocks occurred; the strongest were measured on March 1st with 6.2 and on March 5th with 6.6.

On March 11th, the center of Chile was shaken again by several severe tremors, which were measured by the US earthquake observatory (NEIC) with magnitudes between 4.9 and 6.9. Although this recent quake was often referred to as a particularly severe aftershock in press reports, according to the USGS researchers it was an independent event (see Pichilemu earthquake 2010 ).

The regional tectonic tensions caused by the great earthquake of February 27th caused a large number of other small and medium-sized aftershocks and subsequent tremors on the central Chilean coastline in the months that followed. The strong earthquake in the south of central Chile northwest of Temuco on January 2, 2011, which was measured with a magnitude of 7.1, but did not claim any victims, is related to this. Two further quakes with magnitudes of up to 6.8 occurred on February 12, 2011. According to some researchers, the continuing unrest in the earth's interior may be related to the fact that the earth's crust has not relaxed in the areas affected by the great earthquake of February 2010 as a result, the potential for further severe earthquakes has not decreased in certain zones, but rather increased.

Tectonic background

The Nazca plate is subducted under the South American plate .

Chile is on the edge of the South American Plate , which in turn borders on the Nazca Plate . The purely oceanic and denser Nazca plate is pushed under the South American plate. The subduction movement of approx. 63 mm annually causes friction and tension, which is released in regular sudden earthquakes. Since Chile is located near this subduction zone, severe and extremely severe earthquakes have repeatedly occurred here.

Strong earthquakes are therefore not uncommon in the coastal regions of Chile. Since 1950, more than 25 earthquakes with a magnitude of at least 7.0 have occurred here . Among these was the Valdivia earthquake in May 1960 - with a magnitude of 9.5, the worst earthquake recorded since instrumental records began. According to USGS estimates, it killed 1,655 people in southern Chile and triggered a tsunami that crossed the Pacific Ocean. As a result, another 61 people were killed in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines. About 870 km further north was the epicenter of the magnitude 8.5 earthquake in November 1922, which killed several hundred people in central Chile and caused major property damage. The 1922 earthquake also triggered a tsunami. This reached an amplitude of nine meters and flooded the Chilean coastal city of Coquimbo ; it also crossed the Pacific and had an impact on Hilo , Hawaii.

The epicenter of the February 27, 2010 earthquake is about 230 km north of that of the Valdivia earthquake.

Effects

Collapsed house in Santiago

The cities of Arauco and Coronel were exposed to the strongest ground accelerations - Tier VIII (destructive) of the Mercallis scale - during the main quake . In the capital Santiago de Chile , which is about 325 km from the epicenter of the main earthquake, ground accelerations of 2.2 m / s 2 were measured on February 27 (Mercalli level VII - very strong). Numerous buildings were destroyed or badly damaged. The Santiago's international airport had to be closed for several days. Electricity and communication networks collapsed. The tremors were also clearly noticeable in large parts of Argentina and even in São Paulo , several thousand kilometers away .

More than three million people live within a 200 km radius of the epicenter of the main quake. The number of people killed by the earthquake on February 27 and the subsequent tsunami fluctuated greatly in the first few weeks after the disaster. On March 4, the Chilean authorities corrected earlier statements that around 800 victims were to be mourned downwards because dead and missing persons had been added up by mistake. The final list of the victims of the disaster, published on May 15, 2010 on the website of the Chilean Ministry of the Interior, names 521 dead and 56 missing.

According to the Chilean President Bachelet in a speech on the evening of the disaster day, two million people were directly affected by the quake. Around half a million homes were destroyed or badly damaged. Reconstruction in the affected areas could take up to four years, said the outgoing head of state in the week after the quake. The total damage is at about 30 billion dollars estimated.

Due to the earthquake, the change from summer to winter time , which usually takes place on the first Sunday in March, was postponed by one month to April 4, 2010 in Chile. This is to avoid disadvantages that would result from the earlier onset of dusk for people who camp homeless or who are cut off from the power supply.

As evaluations of GPS measurements by Chilean and US geologists have shown, the earthquake has significantly changed the geography of Chile and neighboring regions. The city of Concepción was moved about ten feet west by the earthquake. The capital Santiago moved about 24 centimeters to the west-southwest. Also Valparaíso and the Argentine city of Mendoza "significantly" shifted according to the researchers. In the first six months after the main earthquake , 20,000 aftershocks were localized, of which around 10,000 took place near the city of Pichilemu (see Earthquake in Pichilemu 2010 ).

According to model calculations by scientists from the US space agency NASA , the geological mass displacements as a result of the quake shift the earth's axis by about eight centimeters and accelerate the earth's rotation. The day length is shortened by around 1.26 microseconds .

Tsunami

This projection of the USGS illustrates the expected amplitude of the tsunami.

The February 27 earthquake triggered a tsunami . He reached various Chilean port cities in a short time: after 19 minutes Talcahuano , after 34 minutes Valparaíso , after about three hours Antofagasta . In addition to the coastal areas of mainland Chile, the island group of the Juan Fernández Islands, 600 km from the coast, was hit by a large wave. After four and a half hours, the waves reached Easter Island, which is also Chilean .

A tsunami warning was issued for large parts of the Pacific . At times it extended to 53 states and areas with coasts in the Pacific Ocean. In addition to Chile and Peru , these included the states of Colombia , Costa Rica , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Mexico , Panama , the west coast of the United States including Alaska and Hawaii , the Canadian province of British Columbia , Australia and on the west coast of America New Zealand and all island states in Oceania . The tsunami warning also applied to the east coast of the Asian states of Indonesia , Japan , Russia and parts of the Philippines, as well as Taiwan .

Arrival of the tsunami on February 27, 2010 and highest measured amplitude (selection)
Measuring point Coordinates Time amplitude
Talcahuano , Chile 36.7S 73.4W 006:53 2.34 m
Valparaíso , Chile 33.0S 71.6W 007:08 1.29 m
Corral , Chile 39.9S 73.4W 007:39 0.90 m
San Félix , Chile 26.3S 80.1W 008:15 0.53 m
Ancud , Chile 41.9S 73.8W 008:38 0.62 m
Caldera , Chile 27.1S 70.8W 008:43 0.45 m
Coquimbo , Chile 30.0S 71.3W 008:52 1.32 m
Antofagasta , Chile 23.2S 70.4W 009:41 0.49 m
Arica , Chile 18.5S 70.3W 010:08 0.94 m
Easter Island , Chile 27.2S 109.5W 012:05 0.35 m
Quepos , Costa Rica 9.4N 84.2W 014:16 0.24 m
Baltra , Galápagos Islands , Ecuador 0.4S 90.3W 014:52 0.35 m
Manzanillo , Mexico 19.1N 104.3W 017:05 0.07 m
Hiva Oa , French Polynesia 9.8S 139.0W 017:41 1.79 m
Nuku Hiva , French Polynesia 8.9S 140.1W 017:45 0.95 m
Papeete , Tahiti , French Polynesia 17.5S 149.6W 018:10 0.16 m
Cabo San Lucas , Mexico 22.9N 109.9W 018:33 0.36 m
Acapulco , Mexico 16.8N 99.9W 019:31 0.62 m
Lottin Point, New Zealand 37.6S 178.2E 019:34 0.15 m
Pago Pago , American Samoa 14.3S 170.7W 020:27 0.70 m
Monterey Harbor , California 36.6N 121.9W 020:31 0.32 m
Santa Monica , California 34.0N 118.5W 020:35 0.41 m
San Diego , California 32.7N 117.2W 020:36 0.13 m
Kahului , Maui , Hawaii 20.9N 156.5W 021:47 0.98 m
Santa Barbara , California 34.4N 119.7W 021:50 0.53 m
Barbers Point , Hawaii 21.3N 158.1W 021:57 0.52 m
Honolulu , Oahu , Hawaii 21.3N 157.9W 022:00 0.25 m
Sitka , Alaska 57.1N 135.3W 101:11 0.37 m
Midway Islands 28.2N 177.4W 101:37 0.28 m
Wake up 19.3N 166.6E 102:59 0.26 m
Guam 13.4N 144.7E 103:07 0.16 m
Dutch Harbor , Unalaska , Alaska 53.9N 166.5W 103:25 0.35 m
Hanasaki , Hokkaidō , Japan 43.3N 145.6E 105:51 0.45 m
Ōfunato , Honshū , Japan 39.0N 141.8E 105:58 0.41 m
All times in Coordinated Universal Time

Situation in the disaster area

On the days after the quake, the severely affected regions were in some cases chaotic. The supply situation turned out to be very difficult, as electricity and water supplies were interrupted, petrol stations and supermarkets were destroyed or remained closed. Many hospitals were also badly damaged; nine of them had to be evacuated (including in Talca and Constitución). In many places it was initially only possible to receive medical care in selected emergencies. In Chillán , around 300 prisoners managed to escape from the city's damaged prison.

The situation was particularly critical in the coastal towns of the VII and VIII regions (such as Constitución, Dichato , Iloca, Pelluhue), which were devastated by the tsunami, and some of the helpers arrived very late or not at all. In Concepción, Talca and other places, the first looting , vandalism and robbery occurred immediately after the earthquake , which led to the formation of vigilante groups from Sunday. On February 28, a night curfew was imposed in Concepción and a day later in Talca , which helped to calm the situation. To restore order, the government dispatched a total of 14,000 soldiers who arrived in the emergency area two days after the quake. On March 2, the power supply was restored in large parts of the disaster region (including Chillán and Talca), in Concepción only two days later. On March 16, there were still several hundred thousand inhabitants around Concepción without running water. On March 3rd, state-organized aid supplies came to the emergency area on a large scale for the first time.

With the deployment of the military, the security situation in the cities visibly stabilized. On March 9, the banks in parts of the affected areas in Maule reopened to the public and began to pay out outstanding salary and pension payments to the population.

See also

Web links

Commons : Earthquake in Chile 2010  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
 Wikinews: Severe earthquake off the coast of Chile - a state of emergency declared  - news
 Wikinews: Chile: After the earthquake comes the looters  - news

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Magnitude 8.8 - Offshore Maule, Chile 2010 February 27 06:34:14 UTC. USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, February 27, 2010, accessed March 10, 2010 .
  2. ↑ Chile: earthquake claims 78 fatalities FOCUS from 12:56 p.m.
  3. ↑ Gavin Hayes: Subduction Zone Geometry Analysis ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , USGS, accessed March 10, 2010 (English) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / earthquake.usgs.gov
  4. ↑ SERVICIO SISMOLOGICO  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / ssn.dgf.uchile.cl  
  5. ↑ GFZ Potsdam - Earthquake Bulletin , accessed on March 10, 2010.
  6. ↑ a b Tsunami and earthquake in Chile ( English , PDF, 350 kB) Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen, Global Security and Crisis Management Unit (CriTech) of the European Union. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  7. ↑ Vorarlberg Online: Strong aftershock in Chile (March 1, 2010)
  8. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt: Panic after severe aftershock in Chile (March 6, 2010)
  9. ↑ Strong aftershocks shake Chile (March 11, 2010)
  10. ↑ El País: Three strong aftershocks shake Chile (March 11, 2010)  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.elpais.com  
  11. ↑ a b NZZ: Strong aftershock hits Chile (March 11, 2010)
  12. ↑ Reuters: Strong earthquake in Chile goes smoothly (January 3, 2011)
  13. ↑ Deutsche Welle: Two earthquakes in Chile (February 12, 2011)  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.dw-world.de  
  14. ↑ Deutschlandfunk: Research News (January 31, 2011) - The Darwin gap and Stefano Lorito's fears
  15. ^ E. Kendrick et al .: The Nazca – South American Euler vector and its rate of change . In: Journal of South American Earth Sciences . Vol. 16, 2003, pp. 125-131.
  16. ^ Significant Earthquake Database . In: National Geophysical Data Center . National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  17. ↑ PAGER - M 8.8 - OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE ( English ) Earthquake.usgs.gov. February 27, 2010. Archived from the original on August 6, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 1, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / earthquake.usgs.gov
  18. ↑ a b Massive earthquake strikes Chile , BBC, February 28, 2010, 12:35 am GMT
  19. ↑ 'You can hear children screaming under the rubble' , Die Welt. February 27, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2010. 
  20. ↑ President corrects the number of dead downwards , www.spiegel.de. March 5, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2010. 
  21. ↑ Official list of victims ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 110 kB) from May 15, 2010  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.interior.gov.cl
  22. ↑ Official list of missing persons ( Memento of the original from March 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 15 kB) from May 15, 2010  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.interior.gov.cl
  23. ↑ Number of quake deaths in Chile after correction at 342 , www.zeit.de. March 21, 2010. 
  24. ↑ Balance of the disaster in Chile: 700 people died in earthquake and tsunami , Spiegel-Online from March 16, 2010
  25. ↑ Santiago de Chile, summer time 2010
  26. ^ City of Concepcion shifted by three meters , Der Standard of March 9, 2010
  27. ↑ The earthquake in Chile moved the city three meters. Wirtschaftswoche, March 9, 2010, accessed on March 10, 2010 .
  28. ↑ Researchers Show How Far South American Cities Moved In Quake ( Memento of the original from April 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Map with displacements ( Memento of the original from July 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Ohio State University, accessed March 10, 2010 (English)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / researchnews.osu.edu @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / researchnews.osu.edu
  29. ↑ D. Lange et al .: Aftershock Seismicity of the February 27, 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule Earthquake Rupture Zone . In: Earth and Planetary Science Letters . 317-183, January 2012, p. 17. doi : 10.1016 / j.epsl.2011.11.034 .
  30. ↑ Chile quake shifted the earth's axis. Spiegel Online, March 2, 2010, accessed March 3, 2010 .
  31. ↑ Chilean Quake May Have Shortened Earth Days. NASA, March 2, 2010, accessed March 3, 2010 .
  32. ↑ Severe earthquake shakes Chile - tsunami alarm. Reuters News Agency, February 27, 2010, accessed February 27, 2010 .
  33. ^ Pacific Tsunami Warning Center: Tsunami Bulletin Number 010 ( English ) NOAA / NWS, United States Department of the Interior . February 2010. Archived from the original on March 2, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 27, 2007. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.prh.noaa.gov
  34. ↑ tagesschau.de 12:14 p.m. ( Memento from February 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  35. ↑ tagesschau.de 3:38 p.m. ( Memento from March 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  36. ↑ PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER / NOAA / NWS: TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 005 ( English ) United States Department of the Interior . February 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2007.
  37. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/world/americas/01chile.html?pagewanted=2&hp
  38. ↑ 'Apertura general de bancos en Talca colapsó el centro de la ciudad' (rush to reopened banks in Talca paralyzes the city center) (Spanish) , cooperativa.cl. March 9, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010.