The Cause Of The Great Chilean Earthquake In Chile

The Great Chilean Earthquake, considered one of the largest registered in history happened on a Sunday of March 22, 1960 at around 3:11pm local time in Chile. Its epicenter was registered near the neighborhoods of the city of Valdivia, Chile and had a magnitude of 9.6 on the Richter scale. After the main shock, a series of major Earthquakes were registered between May 21 and June 6 that affected much of Southern Chile. The quake was felt in different parts of the planet and produced a tsunami that hit several towns along the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii and Japan and caused the eruption of the Puyehue volcano in the Andean Mountains of Chile. The number of deaths is not concrete and there have been different figures of death tolls. Despite the fact, we know that more than 2,000 people dies and more than 2 million were left homeless because of the disaster.

It all started in Concepción. Right before dawn on May 21, 1960, a strong earthquake shook much of the south of Chile. Twelve epicenters were recorded on the coast of Arauco Peninsula, current Biobío Region. The movement had a magnitude of 7.75 on the Richter scale and VII on the Mercalli scale, affecting mainly the cities of Concepción, Talcahuano, Lebu, Angol and Chillán. It was also felt between Norte Chico area and Llanquihue. At around 6:33am local time, a second movement, similar to the previously stated, shook the zone and crumbled buildings damaged by the first quake. However, there were no fatalities since much of the population had evacuated their homes for fear of landslides. Telephone communications from Santiago de Chile to the south were interrupted. Journalist Enrique Folch, who had amateur radio signals captured from the area of the tragedy, reported the fi...

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...ving hundreds dead or missing. The bay that the Valdivia River flowed to was full of boats that washed ashore.

Similar to Corral, the tsunami caused more damage than the earthquake itself along the entire coast. In the Cautin zone, the towns of Toltén, Puerto Saavedra and Queule were wiped off the geographic map. The population of 2,500 in Puerto Saavedra managed to reach higher grounds before they witnessed the waves tear away their homes. Similar situations occurred in coastal villages of Valdivia and the coast of the province of Osorno. In Puerto Montt, 80% of infrastructure was destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami as well as subsequent fire. Finally, in Chiloé, much of the coastal town also suffered the brunt of the water and most of the stilt houses were destroyed; small towns on the west coast were completely isolated and Rahue was completely destroyed.