1985 Pichilemu earthquake

1985 Pichilemu earthquake

Shakemap of the 1985 Pichilemu earthquake.
Date 21:56:59, 8 April 1985 (UTC-4) (1985-04-08T21:56:59UTC-4)
Magnitude 7.5 Mw[1]
Depth 37.8 kilometres (23 mi)[2]
Epicenter Pichilemu, Chile
Countries or regions  Chile,  Argentina
Max. intensity MM VII
Tsunami No
Casualties 2 killed

The 1985 Pichilemu earthquake, also known locally as the Lago Rapel earthquake, was a 7.5[1] magnitude earthquake that occurred 50 kilometres (31 mi) northeast of Pichilemu, O'Higgins Region, Chile[3] on April 8, 1985[4] at 21:56:59 local time (01:56:59 UTC) at a depth of 37.8 kilometres (23.5 mi).[2][5]

Contents

Background

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake was registered on March 3, 1985 offshore Valparaíso, Valparaíso Region.[1] It reached a maximum intensity of XI on the Mercalli intensity scale. 177 people were killed, 2,575 injured, 142,489 houses were damaged and about a million people were left homeless.[6] There was a long interruption on basic services, and the damage provoked by that earthquake was estimated to be more than 1,046 million US dollars.[7]

The April 9 1985 Pichilemu earthquake occurred in the same fault area as the 2010 Pichilemu earthquake, and is considered by University of Chile Seismological Service a thrust fault-type interplate earthquake.[8]

Damage and effects

Two people died of heart attacks after the earthquake; one in Santiago and another in Chillán.[2][5] The earthquake lasted approximately three minutes according to The New York Times.[5]

It created damage in addition to that already caused by March 3 earthquake in the Santiago-Valparaíso area.[2]

The earthquake, measured in the Modified Mercalli intensity, reached magnitude VI in Curacaví, La Calera, Los Andes, Peñaflor, San Antonio, Valparaíso, and Viña del Mar; and magnitude V-VI in Concón, Constitución, Curicó, La Ligua, Melipilla, Papudo, Pichilemu, Puchuncaví, Quilpué, and Villa Alemana.[3]

Although it has been considered by the news media as an aftershock of the main Santiago earthquake, [8] according to Rosa Urrutia de Hazbún and Carlos Lanza Lazcano's book Catástrofes en Chile 1541–1992, the Pichilemu earthquake was a different and separate event.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "SISMOS IMPORTANTES Y/O DESTRUCTIVOS (1570 - Mayo 2005)" (in Spanish). Sismología Universidad de Chile. http://sismologia.cl/terrem.html. Retrieved September 8, 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c d "Historic Earthquakes". United States Geological Survey. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1985_03_03.php. Retrieved September 8, 2010. 
  3. ^ a b "Informe de Sismo." (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: University of Chile Geological Service. 1985. http://sismologia.cl/events/sensibles/1985/04/19850409015659.html. Retrieved September 12, 2010. 
  4. ^ Luis Valenzuela (April 14, 2010). "Planificación Urbana en Zonas de Riesgo" (in Spanish). Universidad Católica de Chile. http://politicaspublicas.uc.cl/media/agenda/material/20100325124410_Presentacion_Luis_Valenzuela.pdf. Retrieved September 11, 2010. 
  5. ^ a b c AP (April 8, 1985). "Strong quake jolts Chile". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/09/world/strong-quake-jolts-chile.html?scp=1&sq=pichilemu&st=cse. Retrieved September 8, 2010. 
  6. ^ "Terremoto de 1985" (in Spanish). Angelfire. http://www.angelfire.com/nt/terremotosdeChile2/. Retrieved September 12, 2010. 
  7. ^ "Grandes Terremotos en Chile". El Mercurio (Santiago de Chile). http://www.emol.com/especiales/terremotos/chile.htm. Retrieved September 12, 2010. 
  8. ^ a b "ESTUDIO COMPARATIVO DE LOS TERREMOTOS DE SUBDUCCIÓN CHILENOS CON LOS TERREMOTOS DE SUBDUCCION DEL NORTE, CENTRO Y SUR DE AMERICA" (in Spanish). Concepción, Chile: University of Chile Seismological Service. November 16–19, 2005. http://ssn.dgf.uchile.cl/informes/congreso/A01-14.pdf. Retrieved September 12, 2010. 
  9. ^ Urrutia de Hazbún, Rosa; Lanza Lazcano, Carlos (1993) (in Spanish). Catástrofes en Chile, 1541–1992. Santiago de Chile: Editorial La Noria. http://books.google.com/books?id=k64MAAAAYAAJ.