8.8 earthquake in Chile.

[caupina]

Hey, my lovely country has been struck once again....the last big one was in 1985 (Chile holds the record for the strongest earthquake in recorded history, 9.5 in 1960), so it was long overdue. My wife is there as all my relatives...thankfully they are all doing fine, shaken up but fine....lots of structure damage all around....I feel helpless being here in L.A. with all that going on in my country...My prayers go to all those affected by this natural disaster.

 

[caupina]

There's a tsunami advisory for the US West coast. This was a large earthquake....I just talked to a friend of mine in Santiago and he said that he pretty much fell off the bed with all the shaking....A lot of destruction all around....there was a report on CNN that a 120ft wave hit the island of Juan Fernandez, which is located more than 400 miles off the coast of Chile. Chile's major airport is closed due to some major damage....the situation is getting worse by the minute

 

[STRONGBADF1]

caupina,

As my wife just said "That's a record I could do without."

I hope your family and friends remain safe and get any help that they need. As you said they are ok so that's a good thing.

Good vibes sent their (and your) way.

Take care,
Doug

 

[Davemcc]

I'm glad to hear your family is OK. I've only had a brief chance to see the news but one report says that Chile has modern building codes and that buildings are built to survive earthquakes. I'm sure that mitigated what could have been another international disaster. Although with reports still coming in, the true extent of damage may not be known just yet.

Edit - I just heard 147 fatalities. That's amazingly low compared to Haiti especially for the magnitude of the quake.

 

[C'Ville]

The building codes in Chile are pretty decent, but an 8.8 earthquake is pretty powerful earthquake. This earthquake had 500 times more energy than the one in Haiti with Tsunami warnings in Hawaii and on the California and Oregon coasts. It was felt even 1,800 miles away.

 

[jostenmeat]

8.8 is insane. I read that during the next ten hours, there were 41 aftershocks that were magnitude 5 or greater! Six of those were magnitude 6 or greater!!

To put those aftershocks slightly in perspective, the Northridge quake (that moved my friend's pool and all of its water into the living room) was a 6.7. The pic below is from the Northridge.

 

[lsiberian]

8.8 is insane. I read that during the next ten hours, there were 41 aftershocks that were magnitude 5 or greater! Six of those were magnitude 6 or greater!!

To put those aftershocks slightly in perspective, the Northridge quake (that moved my friend's pool and all of its water into the living room) was a 6.7. The pic below is from the Northridge.

Unfortunately magnitude isn't the most useful evaluation of a quakes effect on towns. A subduction zone earthquakes tend to have much greater depth than lateral zone quakes. A Tsunami is a certainty with most quakes of this magnitude. Occurring on a subduction zone. The Modified Mercalli scale is a much greater indicator of earthquake effects however it does take time to produce these ratings. Coastal cities in a subduction zone region have a double wammy of pain in these instances.

 

[jostenmeat]

Coastal cities in a subduction zone region have a double wammy of pain in these instances.

Why? By your logic, wouldn't greater depth reduce its impact, assuming the same "magnitude"? IIRC, the Northridge was 19km deep (not sure though), but that the ground acceleration might have been the fastest ever recorded in the region. IOW, I wasn't implying that magnitude is everything, but just trying to put in "slight perspective", how large those aftershocks were.

The San Andreas fault is not a subduction fault, but it holds immeasurable potential disaster.

IIRC, most any quake in CA equates to a new discovery of a fault. California's fault system is a cat's cradle of criss crossing fault lines. I believe the Northridge fault was also undiscovered until it unleashed.

 

[njedpx3]

glad your family is okay. A lot of people don't realize that the reiter scale is logrithmic so a 8.8 quake is 1,000 times as bad as a 5.8 earthquake.

The Haiti earthquake was 7.2 so the Chile earthquake 8.8 was 39.8 times as powerful.


Richter magnitudes Description Earthquake effects Frequency of occurrence
Less than 2.0 Micro Microearthquakes, not felt. About 8,000 per day
2.0-2.9 Minor Generally not felt, but recorded. About 1,000 per day
3.0-3.9 Often felt, but rarely causes damage. 49,000 per year (est.)
4.0-4.9 Light Noticeable shaking of indoor items, rattling noises. Significant damage unlikely. 6,200 per year (est.)
5.0-5.9 Moderate Can cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings over small regions. At most slight damage to well-designed buildings. 800 per year
6.0-6.9 Strong Can be destructive in areas up to about 160 kilometres (100 mi) across in populated areas. 120 per year
7.0-7.9 Major Can cause serious damage over larger areas. 18 per year
8.0-8.9 Great Can cause serious damage in areas several hundred miles across. 1 per year
9.0-9.9 Devastating in areas several thousand miles across.
1 per 20 years
10.0+ Epic Never recorded; see below for equivalent seismic energy yield.
Extremely rare (Unknown)


I hope that the tsunamis have little impact and that very few people are injured, unfortunately the death count is already at 214 fatalities. We pray this number remains low.


Peace and Good Fortune to Chile residents and potential Tsunami victums,

Forest Man

 

[lsiberian]

Why? By your logic, wouldn't greater depth reduce its impact, assuming the same "magnitude"? IIRC, the Northridge was 19km deep (not sure though), but that the ground acceleration might have been the fastest ever recorded in the region. IOW, I wasn't implying that magnitude is everything, but just trying to put in "slight perspective", how large those aftershocks were.

The San Andreas fault is not a subduction fault, but it holds immeasurable potential disaster.

IIRC, most any quake in CA equates to a new discovery of a fault. California's fault system is a cat's cradle of criss crossing fault lines. I believe the Northridge fault was also undiscovered until it unleashed.

It was clearly stated that a deep subduction zone earthquakes are deeper and therefore causes less damage. Though damage is a product of soil type, construction methods in addition to depth. 19km deep is shallow for an earthquake. But transform fault lines aren't known to cause Tsunamis which subduction zones do cause. As a result 2 disasters occur. It also makes things more difficult in the coastal towns in the earthquake zone. You can't just leave the building you also need to get to high ground. However an 8.8 magnitude earthquake has never occurred on a transform fault line. According to the USGS the depth of the Chilean earthquake was 35 km.

It was also around 60 km away from any major city.

Still it's a sad story anytime people lose their lives like this. My prayers are with them and I hope we can improve construction techniques even more

 

[jostenmeat]

It was clearly stated that a deep subduction zone earthquakes are deeper and therefore causes less damage.

What is "It"; what are you referring to?

Though damage is a product of soil type, construction methods in addition to depth. 19km deep is shallow for an earthquake. But transform fault lines aren't known to cause Tsunamis which subduction zones do cause. As a result 2 disasters occur.

Yes, but I perhaps mistakenly thought the tsunami causes damage elsewhere. Yes, obviously soil and construction are key factors. The worst place to be, as far as soil, is the border between two different types. You can perfectly outline landfill areas in CA with aerial photos of earthquake damage. The structures on those borders are literally ripped in half.

It also makes things more difficult in the coastal towns in the earthquake zone. You can't just leave the building you also need to get to high ground.

I didn't know the Chileans near the epicenter had to go to high ground for their safety.

 

[caupina]

Orders were given by the Chilean government to get to higher ground as the potential for a devastating tsunami was imminent. I just saw pictures and videos from Talcahuano, fishermen town very close to the epicenter, in which boats were on top of each other (this headline was taken from a Chilean newspaper:Una ola gigante arrastra barco hasta el centro de Talcahuano,which means that a big wave dragged a fish boat downtown). I'm not quite familiar with Talcahuano but we can only imagine that it'd take a tsunami to do something like that.

I haven't been able to talk to my wife or parents lately...it's impossible to get through but I'm fairly confident they're fine, we live on the country side so let's say that the chances to be hit by falling debris are pretty scarce.

One of the planes of the airline I work for, was damaged by the jet way at the airport. It was being boarded as it departs around the same time the quake hit. It put a big hole on the fuselage as the jet way started to shake uncontrollably....fortunately nobody was hurt as far the personnel and passengers go, with the damage is extensive so that aircraft is AOG.

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers....it's really hard to watch all this from the sidelines when all your loved ones are having a tough time...but we'll come through

 

[bandphan]

6.8 hits this morning, not an aftershock

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010tkcs.php