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1730 Valparaíso earthquake

Earthquake and tsunami in Valparaíso Region, Chile

Field	Value
title	1730 Valparaíso earthquake
pre-1900	yes
local-date
local-time	04:45
map2	{{Location map	Chile	relief=1
lat	-32.5
long	-71.5
mark	Bullseye1.png
marksize	60
position	top
width	150
float	center
caption	}}
magnitude	9.1–9.3 , 8.75
location
countries affected	Captaincy General of Chile, Spanish Empire
tsunami	Yes
casualties	Unknown

|pre-1900 = yes |local-date= |local-time= 04:45

The 1730 Valparaíso earthquake occurred at 04:45 local time (08:45 UTC) on July 8. It had an estimated magnitude of 9.1–9.3 and triggered a major tsunami with an estimated magnitude of 8.75, that inundated the lower parts of Valparaíso. The earthquake caused severe damage from La Serena to Chillan, while the tsunami affected more than 1000 km of Chile's coastline.

Tectonic setting

The earthquake took place along the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates, at a location where they converge at a rate of seventy millimeters a year.

Chile has been at a convergent plate boundary that generates megathrust earthquakes since the Paleozoic (500 million years ago). In historical times the Chilean coast has suffered many megathrust earthquakes along this plate boundary, including the strongest earthquake ever measured. Most recently, the boundary ruptured in 2010 in central Chile.

Damage

The earthquake caused severe damage over a wide area, Valparaíso, Coquimbo, Illapel, Petorca and Tiltil were all affected. The parish church in La Serena was destroyed.

Only a few deaths were recorded due to the earthquake, reportedly because a strong foreshock had caused people to leave their homes. The same is also true for the following tsunami with the inhabitants running to higher ground after seeing the water recede, so that only a few were killed.

Characteristics

Earthquake

At about 01:00 local time in Santiago, there was a strong earthquake, followed by several smaller tremors. The main shock occurred at 4:45 local time.

A 350 - long rupture has been estimated for this event, from the extent of severe damage.

Tsunami

The tsunami occurred immediately after the mainshock, with a maximum run-up height recorded at Concepción of 16 m. It was also observed at Callao, Peru and in Honshu, Japan where fields were flooded in Rikuzen and the Oshika Peninsula.

References

(2017). "Source of the 1730 Chilean earthquake from historical records: Implications for the future tsunami hazard on the coast of Metropolitan Chile". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.
Grez, P.W.. (2008). "Evaluacion de riesgo de tsunami en Quintero, Chile (Evaluation of tsunami risk in Quintero, Chile)".
(2008). "Tsunami Hazard in the city of Valparaíso".
National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.
(6 March 2010). "Magnitude 8.8 – Offshore Maule, Chile". United States Geological Survey.
NGDC. "Comments for the tsunami event".
(2005). "The orphan tsunami of 1700". United States Geological Survey.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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