1985 Santiago earthquake

1985 Santiago earthquake

Map showing location of the epicenter
Date 19:47, 3 March 1985 (UTC-3) (1985-03-03T19:47UTC-3)
Magnitude 8.0 Mw[1]
Depth 33 kilometres (21 mi)
Epicenter Algarrobo
Countries or regions Chile, San Antonio, (Valparaíso Region), Alhué, Melipilla, Santiago (Santiago Metropolitan Region), Rengo (O'Higgins Region)
Max. intensity MM IX
Casualties 177

The 1985 Santiago earthquake was a seismic movement registered on 3 March 1985 at 22:47 UTC (19:47 local time). Its epicenter was located on the south coasts of Valparaíso Region, Chile, close to the beach of Algarrobo. It had a magnitude of 8.0 Mw.[1]

The earthquake was felt between the Antofagasta Region in the north, and the Araucanía Region in the south, being felt with more power in Central Chile. It reached a maximum intensity of IX in the Mercalli intensity scale. The most affected zone was the port of San Antonio, in Valparaíso Region, together with Alhué and Melipilla in Santiago Metropolitan Region and Rengo in O'Higgins Region. The earthquake also affected Chile's capital city Santiago with great intensity.

The final victims count threw 177 dead, 2,575 hurt, 142,489 destroyed houses and about a million people houseless. Many landslides were registered too, pavement breaks with the destruction of Pan-American highway in several points, broken-down bridges and considerable damage in affected town's infrastructure, with a long interruption on basic services. The damage was valued in more than 1,046 million US dollars.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Servicio Sismológico Universidad de Chile, Sismos importantes o destructivos desde 1570
  2. ^ El Mercurio, Grandes terremotos en Chile