The Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault is major geological fault[1] that runs a length of roughly 1000 km in a north-south direction and exhibits current seismicity [2]. It is located in the Chilean northern patagonean Andes. It is a dextral intra-arc transform fault. When considered a fault zone, the Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault Zone (LOFZ) migh include other neighboring faults such as Reigolil-Pirihueico Fault.
As the name implies it runs from the Liquiñe hot springs in the north to the Ofqui Isthmus in the south, where the Antarctic Plate meets the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate in Chile Triple Junction. A large part of the fault runs along the Moraleda Channel. North of Liquiñe the fault is gradually converted into a compression area. At Quetrupillán volcano the fault is crossed by the Gastre Fault Zone. It may be classified as a dextral intra-arc transform fault.
The 1960 eruption of Cordón Caulle soon after the Great Chilean Earthquake was triggered by movements in the fault. The Aysén Fjord earthquake in 2007 and the eruption of Chaitén Volcano in 2008 are believed to have been caused by movements in the fault.
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