Chile Earthquake 1960

         Chile Earthquake of 1960

 Celeste Bayeh, Lewis Beumie and Gavan Huang

It was May 22nd, 1960 when an earthquake with a stength of 9.5 on the Moment Magnitude Scale (Mw)  shook the towns of Valvida and Puerto Montte.  These two towns were only 100 miles away from the epicentre of the earthquake which was 60m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. It damaged a shocking 400,000 square kilometres, and still to this day is known as one of  the world’s largest earthquakes ever.

What Caused the Earthquake?

The plates involved were the South American plates and the Nazca Plates which lie on the Peru-Chile trench. The earthquake was known as a ‘megathurst earthquake’ that occured due to the  release of mechanical stress between both the subducting plates. (Nazca and South American Plates). They are referred to as subducting plates because the Nazca Plate is moving downwards underneath the South American continent.  The Antarctic Plate is also subducting into the South American continent, increasing the shakes. 

Damage

 The outcome of the earthquake was traumatic. The earthqake wasn’t all the Chileans were in for on the 22nd of May. Just an hour after the shaking a giant eight metre wave washed away the entire Chilean coast, followed by another ten metre wave just as destructive. These waves travelled 1000 miles through the Pacific Ocean reaching the shores of Hawaii, Japan and the Phillipines. The death toll was never determined, however many believed almost 6,000 were killed in Chile alone. Amongst the devastation of deaths, the country also had to spend between 400 and 800 million dollars in order to repair the destruction. These repairs consisted of the 40% of homes that were scattered over the ground, leaving 20,000 homeless.