Iquique EarthquakeOn Tuesday April 1 2014, an earthquake caused by thrust faulting at shallow depths struck the northern coast of Chile 70km off of Iquique next to the Peruvian border at 8:34pm local time. Its powerful 8.2 magnitude triggered several landslides which damaged roads, cut all power, and generated several tsunamis which were reported to have reached heights of almost 2.5m. The location and mechanism of the earthquake were consistent with the slip on the primary plate coundary interface, or megathrust, between the Nazca and South American plate. In the immediate aftermath, 11 hospitals were evacuated, several aftershocks occurred ranging from 5-6.2 magnitude, 300 prisoners managed to escape a jail that was set ablaze, numerous shops were reported to have been stolen from, and there were only 5 deaths, caused by either heart attacks or falling debris. The death count is considerably low due to nearly a million citizens evacuating immediately to higher ground after the first warning out of fear of the 8.8 magnitude 2010 earthquake which hit central Chile and resulted in a massive over 500 deaths.
The centre of the quake was powerfully deep - over 20km under the pacific ocean, where continental crust and ocean crust clash along an earthquake-prone fault that has also seen several powerful earthquakes in the past. This deep epicentre resulted in the impacts of the earthquake spreading to areas around Chile. For example, tsunamis that were destructive along coasts near this epicentre were still threats to coasts of more distant countries. In Peru, the city closest to the centre evacuated 200 people who waited for several days on safer ground before returning, Luckily, no deaths or injuries occurred.
video of the sudden earthquake and the unexpected victims
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