National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The resulting tsunamis affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia, and the Aleutian Islands. It had a magnitude of 8.1, lasted for 35 seconds and destroyed a third of the buildings in the city of Concepcin in Chile. Later, Carol and Ernest returned to Hilo after hearing on the radio that tsunami waves had already come into town and were only 7 feet high. Observe devastation wrought by the Chile earthquake of 1960, https://www.britannica.com/event/Chile-earthquake-of-1960, USGS Earthquake Hazards Program - 1960 Great Chilean Earthquake, Geology.com - World's Largest Recorded Earthquake, Castro, Chilo Island, after the Chile earthquake of 1960, tsunami damage in Hilo, Hawaii after the Chile earthquake of 1960. ("The tsunami was so big that it even took the dead from their graves"). When a 600-mile-long stretch of the South American tectonic plate was thinned during the 1960 earthquake, nearby land was lowered as much as 8 feet. An increase of two points on the scale corresponds to 1000 times increase in energy. The lack of potable water became a serious problem in one of Chile's rainiest regions.[15][16]. [64], The sacrifice was learned about by authorities after a boy in the commune of Nueva Imperial denounced to local leaders the theft of two horses; these were allegedly eaten during the sacrifice ritual. In much of this flooded area, the tsunami reached a height of 15 feet above sea level. Many aftershocks occurred, with 5 of magnitude 7.0 or greater through Nov 1. The Chilean coast was severely battered by the localized tsunamis which reached a height up to 25 m (82 ft) and caused numerous fatalities. While the above phase correction method successfully accounts for the dispersion effect of recent tsunamis such as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake recorded in deep ocean bottom pressure gauges (Ho et . Click here to navigate to respective pages. [12], The earthquake interrupted and effectively ended Lota's coal miners' march on Concepcin as they demanded higher salaries.[13]. Waves as high as 10.7meters(35 ft)were recorded 10,000kilometersfrom the epicenter, and as far away as Japan and the Philippines. "The most powerful earthquake ever recorded struck near Valdivia, Chile on May 22, 1960, at 2:11 PM local time. Collileufu is located in the Budi Lake area, south of Puerto Saavedra, which was highly isolated in 1960. It is an impressive document that includes the involvement of citizens in committees that are part of the program. More specifically, the German and Danish governments helped to create the Centro Tecnolgico de la Leche (the Milk Technological Centre) in the Southern University of Chile. [36], The eruption fed a 5.5km-long fissure on 135 heading where 21 individual vents have been found. Some pavements near the rivershore in Valdivia cracked and collapsed much like in the 1960 earthquake. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Registered in England & Wales No. After that, the city was a complete disorder. Debris from the cemetery came to rest more than 3 miles upriver. The tsunami that followed the 1960 Chile earthquake killed 105 people from Quenuir-a quarter of the village's population. Great Chilean Earthquake. [66], An earthquake of similar magnitude occurred in this area around 1800 BC, as has been determined by dating charcoal and shells washed into the Atacama Desert by the tsunami. How does the Chile earthquake of 1960 compare with other recent earthquakes? The second and third Concepcin earthquakes occurred the next day at 06:32 UTC-4 (7.1 Mw) and 14:55 UTC-4 (7.8 Mw) on 22 May. In interviews several decades later, people in Chile, Hawaii, and Japan recall the tsunami. Houses built upon elevated areas suffered considerably less damage compared to those on the lowlands, which absorbed great amounts of energy. Others faced the tsunami many hours later in Hawaii and Japan. Mexico built and donated the public school Escuela Mxico after the earthquake. The engine of Canelos was warmed up after the earthquake. All rights reserved. From the height of debris tangled in the branches of trees that remained standing after the 1960 tsunami, Wolfgang Weischet, then a geographer at the Universidad Austral de Chile in nearby Valdivia, estimated that water from the tsunami was as much as 13 feet deep in Queule. If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. San Francisco residents watch the city burn. The second wave reached the barn just as Mr. Navarro joined his family there. [62], In 1974, after the 1971 eruption of Villarrica volcano, COPERE was officially succeeded by ONEMI (Ministry of Interior National Emergency Office)Chile's modern-day emergency management agencywhen it was authorized by law as an independent governmental office by President Salvador Allende. Like everyone else in Maulln, Chile, Ramn Atala survived the 1960 Chile earthquake. Though the oblique angle by which the waves approached the Pacific coast of the United States mitigated their force, Crescent City, California, saw waves of up to 5.6 feet (1.7 metres), and boats and docks in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Long Beach were damaged. Recently, it has been discovered that the Cascadia Subduction Zone, like the subduction zone off Chile, has a history of producing earthquakes that triggered tsunamis. [57] Among the material loses were a series stilt houses between Corral Bajo and Amargos. Its epicenter was near Caete, Bo Bo Region, Chile, and its magnitude was 8.1 or 8.3 M W and 7.3 or 7.5 . The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". At 12:46 a.m., the second wave washed under the bridge at a level 9 feet (2.7 meters) above normal. Of all the seismic energy of the 20th Century, including the 2004 Indian Ocean quake, 25% was concentrated in the 1960 Chile quake. Its economy based on fishing, agriculture and industry had grown. It may have been related or consequential to the 1960 Valdivia quake, the strongest as recorded using modern technology. This 9.5 magnitude earthquake generated a tsunami that crossed the. Find Valdivia Earthquake 1960 stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Just in case, they also planned their own evacuation route, a short sprint to high ground. After hours of drifting around in Corral Bay and Valdivia River, the ship was wrecked and subsequently abandoned by its crew at 1800 local time. Thus an MW 7.0 quake contains 1000 times the energy of a 5.0 MW quake and about 32 times of a 6.0 MW quake. [70] While the 1575 earthquake is considered the one most similar to that of 1960, it differed in not having caused any tsunami in Japan. [18], After the earthquake a myth relating the unusually warm and clear weather conditions prior to the earthquake to its triggering. Throughout the night, water surged beneath them, scouring sandy ground nearby. Before the Great Chilean earthquake, three earthquakes struck Chile which were a fore-shock to the main event and are known as the 1960 Concepcin earthquakes. 2006. Part of the reason behind this was the limited infrastructure development of the region next to the rupture zone. The Nazca plate is a large tectonic plate that underlies the Pacific Ocean near the western coast of South America. Not all people in the area fleeing the earthquake and the tsunami were as lucky as Mr. Maldonado. Going to high ground and staying there helped save lives during the 1960 Chilean tsunami, not only in Chile but also in Onagawa, Japan. Puerto Octay was the center of a northsouth elliptical area in the Central Valley, where the intensity was at the highest outside the Valdivia Basin. La Milagrosa was battered by the currents and waves of the tsunami for four days while moving south. Waves wracked coastal communities as far away as New Zealand, Japan, and the Philippines. The waves set off by the Great Chilean earthquake bounced back and forth across the Pacific Ocean for a week. The event was named after the city most affected by the quake, Valdivia. Eyewitness accounts of the 1906 Earthquake Museum of the City of San Francisco Many eyewitness accounts and photos of the disaster. The first of these was the 8.1 Mw Concepcin earthquake at 06:02 UTC-4 on 21 May 1960. Tsunamis have also been caused by the eruption of some coastal and island volcanoes, submarine landslides, and oceanic impacts of large meteorites. As many as 6,000 people were killed. The 1960 Valdivia Earthquake (Great Chilean Earthquake) and Tsunami4.2.4.1. Go to an Upper Floor or Roof of a Building, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Earthquakes occur when the fault ruptures, suddenly releasing built-up energy. On 24 May 38 hours after the main shock of the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the Cordn Caulle volcano erupted. [30] On 22 May, a seiche occurred also in Nahuel Huapi Lake, on the Argentine side of the Andes, more than 200km away from Valdivia. The enormity of the seafloor shifts that caused the tsunamis was such that the waves that arrived nearly 15 hours later in the Hawaiian Islands6,200 miles (10,000 km) awaystill crested at nearly 35 feet (11 metres) at landfall in some places. Prepared in cooperation with Universidad Austral de Chile, the University of Tokyo, the University of Washington, the Geological Survey of Japan, and the Pacific Tsunami Museum. Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary On May 22, 1960, the most powerful earthquake in recorded history magnitude 9.5struck southern Chile. BBC News website readers sent their eyewitness accounts of the earthquake which struck northern Chile on Monday. I was lucky enough to be escorted to a nearby hotel by a policeman who was on my bus as it was late and there didn't seem to be any taxis. But the most terrible scenes of the earthquake were in small towns east of Iquique. The chapter also discusses the extent and effects of the hazards; their . The tremor triggered a giant tsunami which caused destruction and deaths as far away as Japan, around a day later. Carol and her family survived the 1960 Chilean tsunami without serious injury. Mr. Atala was probably trapped in the warehouse when the second wave of the tsunami washed the building away. However, modern Cascadia has had little experience with tsunamis and almost no experience with tsunamis generated close to home. The force of the sudden movement along a roughly 560620-mile (9001,000-km) stretch of the Nazca plate pushed part of the leading edge of the South American plate upward. During the confusion caused by the waves, Mrs. Riquelme lost her daughter, and her husband was badly injured. During the 1960 Chile earthquake, the western margin of the South American Plate lurched as much as 60 feet relative to the subducting Nazca Plate, in an area 600 miles long and more than 100 miles wide.