List of earthquakes in Chile

The list of earthquakes in Chile represents all relevant earthquake, whose epicenter was located in Chile or off the coast.

Records of earthquakes in Chile begin until the Spanish conquest of the country in the mid-16th century. The first earthquake, on the report, the Spanish chroniclers, was the earthquake of 28 October 1562nd

Tectonic background

→ See also: Plate Tectonics

Chile is located in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of high seismic and volcanic activity that stretches around the Pacific Ocean. In the coastal regions of Chile strong earthquakes are therefore not uncommon for the country even among the most affected by earthquake in circumpacific room.

Chile is located on the western edge of the South American plate at the convergent plate boundary to the oceanic Nazca plate. The two plates are moving in an average of about 63 millimeters each other, where the Nazca plate is subducted beneath the continental plate. The stresses occurring in the subsurface discharge regularly in different strong earthquakes. Even the heaviest ever recorded earthquake, the earthquake of Valdivia in 1960, occurred in Chile.

Because of its location on the Pacific Ocean severe earthquake in Chile usually have one tsunami result.

Schematic representation of the subduction of an oceanic plate under a continental plate.

Propagation of the tsunami after the earthquake of Valdivia in 1960.

List

Legend:

• Victims: the death toll from the earthquake and its aftermath ( tsunami etc. )
• I = intensity on the Modified Mercalliskala
• M = Magnitude MW = moment magnitude
• MS = Oberflächenwellenmagnitude
• ML = local magnitude
• Not specified = Type of Magnitude unknown