The Area of Interest - February 2010 Chilean Earthquake and Tsunamis

On February 28, 2010 at 3:34pm a magnitude 8.8 earthquake which lasted 90 seconds rocked Chile. The earthquake was caused by a shift in the Nazca and South American tectonic plate convergence zone, which is an area where the plates converge at a rate of approximately 3 inches a year. It has been reported that the segment of the fault zone which ruptured is approximately 620 miles long and was displaced over 30 feet. This earthquake is the strongest earthquake on the planet Earth since the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake which caused the well-publicized and extremely destructive Pacific Islands tsunami. Although not nearly as deadly, the Chile earthquake was 500 times more powerful than the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti in January.

That said, the death toll in Haiti was much higher than in Chile as Chile is a wealthier and better prepared nation. For instance, Chile has strict building codes and emergency response teams that are experienced with earthquake responses while Haiti has none of this. When the earthquake struck Haiti, it was the first earthquake Haitians experienced in modern time and thus they were completely unprepared. The Haitian earthquake originated much closer to the surface and its epicenter was also closer to populated areas; factors which certainly helped to increase its destructiveness as Haiti experienced extreme to violent shaking while Chile was classified as severe shaking. In the end, more than 340 people lost their lives in the Chilean tragedy versus an unbelievable figure of 240,000 or more that were killed in the Haitian disaster.

The epicenter of the Chilean earthquake was offshore from the Maule Region and approximately 71 miles northeast of Concepcion. Tremors could be felt in many cities around Chile after the earthquake including Santiago. The earthquake was so powerful it is estimated that it actually moved the Earth's figure axis by 8cm; and the quake even moved the city of Concepcion over 9.5 feet to the west while Santiago shifted 10 inches to the west! Even though Buenos Aires is over 800 miles from Conception, this city even shifted an incredible 1.5 inches after the Chilean quake.

Thirty minutes after the massive earthquake, a series of tsunamis hit coastal towns along the Chilean coastline. Talcahuano, Chile was hit hardest by the series of tsnumais with waves measured at 8' 6" high. The damage was significant as the pre-QuickBird and post-WorldView-2 images below can attest to.

Sky Rubin
Senior Sales Manager

Telcahuano, Chile - Pre-Tsunami, 4/8/06; QuickBird Natural Color 60-cm imagery (ImageBoost applied)

Telcahuano, Chile - Post-Tsunami, 3/6/10; WorldView-2 Natural Color 50-cm imagery (ImageBoost applied)

Telcahuano, Chile - Pre-Tsunami, 4/8/06; QuickBird Natural Color 60-cm imagery (ImageBoost applied)

Telcahuano, Chile - Post-Tsunami, 3/6/10; WorldView-2 Natural Color 50-cm imagery (ImageBoost applied)

Telcahuano, Chile - Pre-Tsunami, 4/8/06; QuickBird Natural Color 60-cm imagery (ImageBoost applied)

Telcahuano, Chile - Post-Tsunami, 3/6/10; WorldView-2 Natural Color 50-cm imagery (ImageBoost applied)

Telcahuano, Chile - Pre-Tsunami, 4/8/06; QuickBird Natural Color 60-cm imagery (ImageBoost applied)

Telcahuano, Chile - Post-Tsunami, 3/6/10; WorldView-2 Natural Color 50-cm imagery (ImageBoost applied)

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