1687 Peru earthquake

1687 Peru earthquake
Date October 20, 1687 (1687-10-20)
Magnitude 8.7 Magnitude Mw
Epicenter [1]
Countries or regions Peru
Tsunami yes
Casualties 5,000

The 1687 Peru earthquake occurred at 11:30 UTC on October 20. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.4–8.7 and caused severe damage to Lima, Callao and Ica. It triggered a tsunami and overall about 5,000 people died.

Contents

Tectonic setting

The earthquake occurred along the boundary between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate. The earthquake is likely to be a result of thrust-faulting, caused by the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate.

The coastal parts of Peru and Chile have a history of great megathrust earthquakes originating from this plate boundary, such as the 1960 Valdivia earthquake.

Damage

The port of Pisco was completely destroyed by the tsunami, with at least three ships being swept over the remains of the town.[2]

Characteristics

Earthquake

The earthquake was probably followed by another large event further to the south.[2] A magnitude of 8.7 has been estimated from tsunami run-up heights and by comparison with the earthquake of 1974.[3]

Tsunami

The tsunami was reported in Japan where it produced run-ups of 10s of metres.[2]

References

  1. ^ IISEE. "Catalog of Damaging Earthquakes in the World (Through 2007)". http://iisee.kenken.go.jp/utsu/index_eng.html. Retrieved 2010-03-01. 
  2. ^ a b c Okal, E.A.; Borrero J.C. & Synolakis C.E. (2006). "Evaluation of Tsunami Risk from Regional Earthquakes at Pisco, Peru". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 96 (5): 1634–1648. doi:10.1785/0120050158. http://www.earth.northwestern.edu/people/emile/PDF/EAO178.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-01. 
  3. ^ Beck, S.L.; Nishenko S.P. (1990). "Variations in the mode of great earthquake rupture along the central Peru subduction zone". Geophysical Research Letters 17 (11): 1969–1972. Bibcode 1990GeoRL..17.1969B. doi:10.1029/GL017i011p01969.