What tectonic plates did the 1960 Chile earthquake?
A sudden breaking in the rocks along a roughly 560–620-mile (900–1,000-km) stretch of the Nazca Plate caused the earthquake, which has been generally agreed to have had a magnitude of 9.5—the largest earthquake recorded in the 20th century. Learn more about plate tectonics. Read more about the causes of earthquakes.
Which tectonic plate caused the great Chilean earthquake?
the Nazca plate
The Chilean quake was spawned by a straightforward dip of the Nazca plate (ocean crust undergirding the Pacific Ocean off South America’s coast) as it slips eastward under the continent’s crust, according to the USGS.
What tectonic plate boundary is Chile on?
Chile, and the other countries of South America, lie on top of the South American tectonic plate. To the west of Chile, the Nazca Plate extends beneath the Pacific Ocean and meets the Pacific Plate along a divergent plate boundary called the East Pacific Rise.
How did the Valdivia earthquake affect the earth’s surface?
The Valdivia earthquake left two million people homeless, injured at least 3,000, and killed approximately 1,655. The economic damage totaled $550 million (more than $4.8 billion, adjusted for 2020 inflation). The Valdivia earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that raced across the Pacific.
What two plates are converging near Chile that caused the earthquake?
Chile is largely located on the boarders of the oceanic Nazca plate and the continental South American plate. The difference in motion between these two plates is the driving mechanism behind earthquakes happening in this region. The two plates are converging at roughly 7 to 10 meters per century.
What type of earthquake was the Valdivia earthquake?
megathrust earthquake
The earthquake was a megathrust earthquake resulting from the release of mechanical stress between the subducting Nazca Plate and the South American Plate, on the Peru–Chile Trench.
How did the 1960 Chile earthquake affect the environment?
Sinking of the ground due to the earthquake, known as subsidence, produced local flooding in Chile. This permanently altered the shorelines of much of the area in Chile impacted by the earthquake, rendering all marine navigational charts of the affected areas obsolete.
What tectonic plate movement causes earthquakes?
Earthquakes occur along fault lines, cracks in Earth’s crust where tectonic plates meet. They occur where plates are subducting, spreading, slipping, or colliding. As the plates grind together, they get stuck and pressure builds up. Finally, the pressure between the plates is so great that they break loose.