Geo file

September 2011
Online 647

Paul Bennett

Chile's 2010 earthquake – damage and

recovery
Earthquakes are a sudden, often Figure 1: Chile, showing the situation of tectonic plates off the western coast of South
violent shaking of the ground. An America
earthquake took place in Chile on N
PERU
BOLIVIA
Saturday 27 February 2010. Its
epicentre lay 115 km north east of
Nazca
Concepcion, a town in the Maule Cocos
plate
plate
region of Chile, and 325 km south
CHILE
west of Santiago, the capital city of
Chile (Figure 1). The earthquake
measured 8.8 on the Richter scale. An
earthquake of this level of magnitude ARGENTINA
is classified as ‘Great’, and it would
Juan
be expected to occur only once in Fernandez Valparaiso South
the world every 10–20 years. It is Islands American
Santiago
the sixth biggest earthquake ever plate
Constitucion Haule region
recorded (the earthquake in Japan
1 Antarctic
in March 2011 measured 8.9). It has Concepcion
2
plate
been estimated that the earthquake
was so powerful that it moved 3
Concepcion 3.04 m to the west,
and caused the earth’s axis to move
temporarily by 8 cm. The earthquake South
was followed by a series of aftershocks Pacific
Ocean
(earthquakes of lesser magnitude). By
6 March more than 130 of these had South Key
been recorded, including 13 above Atlantic
Ocean Epicentre of February 2010 earhquake
magnitude 6.0. Major volcanoes in Chile

Towns
The coast of Chile has seen 13
1 Parral 2 Chillan 3 Valdivia
earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or 0 500 km
more since 1973. Figure 2 gives
some information about some of The earth consists of a crust, below against each other, eg the San
these earthquakes and the damage which are the mantle and then Andreas fault in California where
they caused. In 1960 the Valdivia the core. The crust is made up the Pacific plate is moving against
earthquake in southern Chile GeoFile Series 30 Issue 1
of continental crust and oceanic the North American plate.
Fig 647_01 Mac/eps/illustrator 15 s/s
measured 9.5 on the Richter scale, the crust. The crust and the top, rigid • Destructive plate margins, where
NELSON THORNES PUBLISHING
largest magnitude ever recorded in layer of the mantle are called
Artist: the two plates meet, as is the case
David Russell Illustration
the world. lithosphere. The rest of the mantle off the western coast of South
below the lithosphere is called the America. In this case, when an
The nature of the seismic asthenosphere. Here, the rocks oceanic plate meets a continental
are semi-molten. The lithosphere one, the result is a subduction
hazard consists of seven, very large tectonic zone.
When rocks come under stress due plates as well as many smaller ones
to movement in the earth’s crust, which ‘float’ on the asthenosphere.
they bend until a breaking point is
A destructive plate margin –
Major earthquakes take place at
reached, and then stored energy is the boundaries or margins of these the example of the western
released as an earthquake. The energy tectonic plates. There are three types coast of South America
released moves through the rock in of plate margin:
waves. The focus of an earthquake is A common location for earthquakes
the place in the earth’s crust where • Constructive plate margins, where is where oceanic and continental
movement takes place. The epicentre two tectonic plates are moving plates converge or meet. This is called
is the point on the earth’s surface, away from each other. An example a destructive plate margin because as
often directly above the focus, where of this is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge the plates move towards each other
the earthquake is first felt. The in the Atlantic Ocean where new and meet (driven by convection
energy produced by an earthquake oceanic crust is being created currents in the asthenosphere), the
decreases with distance from the as the Eurasian plate moves oceanic crust is forced downwards
focus and the epicentre. Following eastwards and the North Atlantic into the earth’s upper mantle. This
an earthquake, aftershocks occur, as plate moves westwards. process is called subduction. This
the stresses in the adjacent rocks are • Conservative plate margins, where takes place because the oceanic
redistributed. two plates are moving sideways crust is denser than the continental

Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2011

September 2011  no.647  Chile's 2010 earthquake – damage and recovery

Figure 2: Information about recent earthquakes in Chile. Fortunately several of these of jerks and this too can generate
earthquakes took place in sparsely populated areas, so the amount of damage they earthquakes. It is believed that when
caused to people and property was relatively slight the earthquake took place on 27
February 2010, the continental South
Date Magnitude Location Damage American plate was moved 10 m west.
(Richter
scale)
The name given to the subduction
14 7.7 Northern 2 deaths and 45 people injured. zone at the boundary between the
November coast of Chile Considerable damage to crustal rocks and the subducting
2007 hospitals, schools and other plate is the Benioff zone. Earthquakes
public buildings. can take place anywhere in this zone,
from the surface to about 700 km
13 June 7.8 Andes 11 killed and 100 injured. 80 down.
2005 mountains in houses destroyed. Considerable
northern Chile damage to roads caused As well as the earthquakes, there
and southern by landslides following the are a series of volcanoes, formed
Peru earthquake. from magma created at the melting
8 August 6.8 Arica 4 killed and 350 injured. 120
edge of the Nazca plate where it is
1987 buildings destroyed or damaged. being subducted. As the magma
The coastal highway closed for rises through the continental crust
five days by landslides again it comes under great pressure, as
brought about by the earthquake. this crust is very thick and there are
few routes to the surface. As a result,
3 March 7.8 The coast 147 killed and 2,000 injured. The when an eruption does take place, it
1985 of Chile, port facilities in Valparaiso were is usually very explosive.
south west of damaged. Water supplies in the
Valparaiso area were hit particularly hard
– the aqueduct which supplies
Impact of the February
water to Valparaiso was severely 2010 earthquake
damaged. The pumping station Figure 4 shows the areas of
moving water to the town of San Chile which were affected by the
Antonio was also destroyed. earthquake. Six regions, stretching
from Valparaiso in the north to
Temuco in the south, felt a strong
Figure 3: The plate boundaries off the western coast of South America shaking intensity. 80% of the
Andes Mountains country’s population was affected.
with volcanoes The earthquake caused both uplift
and subsidence along the coast of
ust r
g o e afte

Sea level
Chile. The area surrounding Arauco
was uplifted and tilted gently to
f cr
s
me es ri

Pacific Ocean the east, with about 2 m of uplift.

In a 50 km coastal zone close to
m

Ocean trench American

ltin
par a plu

Continental Constitucion, the land subsided.

Nazca plate
Plate
Tremors from the earthquake were
gm
tial
Ma

Lithosphere felt further away as well – up to 2400

km away in southern Peru, as well as
Be

in Buenos Aires in Argentina. The

nio

Asthenosphere Subduction zone – effects of the earthquake included:

ff z

layer below the Lithosphere where the Nazca plate is destroyed

on

rocks are soft (due to heat)

• 521 people were killed, with 56
e

Lithosphere
Key layer in the Earth’s mantle people missing. 12,000 people
which carries the tectonic plates
Earthquakes were injured. Deaths and injuries
were caused by collapsing
crust. Friction between the colder, tectonic plates off the western coast buildings trapping people inside.
more brittle oceanic crust and the of South America. Just off the coast Buildings also collapsed onto cars,
continental crust causes stresses. of Chile, the Nazca plate is being
GeoFile Series 30 Issue 1
killing their occupants.
The release of these stresses results destroyed as
Fig 647_03 Mac/eps/illustrator 15 it
s/smoves underneath • All over the affected area,
in earthquakes. The pressure that THORNES
NELSON the PUBLISHING
continental South American the infrastructure suffered
builds up at this type of plateArtist:
margin plate,Illustration
David Russell at a speed of 7 m per century. considerable damage and road
tends to be greater than that at the Figure 3 shows the situation at this transport became difficult because
other two types of plate margins, so plate boundary in more detail. Here, of blockage by landslides and
earthquakes here often have a greater subduction begins with a deep ocean because bridges were brought
magnitude. Also, at a destructive trench, which is 8000 m deep in parts. down. For several days this
plate margin, the continental crust One wall of this trench is formed by made it very difficult for the
and the sediments which have built the subducted plate, whilst the other government to bring aid to the
up on the seabed are forced upwards wall is formed from the edge of the affected areas.
and folded into a fold mountain continental plate. As the plate moves • 1.5 million homes were damaged,
range. Figure 1 shows the situation of downwards, it moves in a series displacing 0.8 million people. The
Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2011
 September 2011  no.647  Chile's 2010 earthquake – damage and recovery

Figure 4: Main areas affected by the earthquake. Many buildings in Figure 5: An eyewitness account of the
Chile earthquake Constitucion, Chile’s second earthquake
Pacific 1.2 N largest city, were destroyed, and
Valparaiso
Ocean one apartment building toppled ‘It was one hell of a shake and not
9
1.2 8 over trapping 80 people, of whom one I want to live through again.
7
Metropolitana 13 were rescued. Telephone and We were woken by the sound of
power cables were brought down rumbling and creaking of the house
O’Higgins and roads severely damaged in and the bed started to shake. We
5 places. In the tourist city of Talca, have gone through this before, but
6
many historic buildings were this time as the seconds passed
4 River destroyed, including nearly all the it got stronger and stronger, until
Haule
Talachuano 3 ARGENTINA
buildings in the city centre. the bed was shaking harder and
2.3 2
Bio Bio • Overall, it was estimated that it harder. We could hear the crash of
would cost £20 billion to restore falling objects. I yelled to my wife
Araucania the damage done to the country to get into the safety triangle by
Arauco 1 CHILE by the earthquake. the bed and we rolled off the bed
0.8 0 200 km onto our respective sides onto the
Tsunami (Japanese for ‘harbour floor to lie adjacent to the bed (if
Key
Towns/Cities wave’) the ceiling comes down, the theory
1 Temuco
2 Concepcion
4 Parral
5 Constitucion
7 Santiago
8 Colina
As shown by the 2011 Japanese is that a triangle or wedge of safe
3 Chillan 6 Talca 9 Valparaiso earthquake, earthquakes can have area will be formed where you can
0.8 Height of tsunami wave in metres
Area of strong shaking intensity
Epicentre of
earthquake important secondary effects which survive). The noise continued, now
Area of severe shaking intensity
Bio Bio Regions declared disaster areas
can cause considerable damage. also deafening with the continued
Source: US Geological Survey/Department of the These include landslides, tsunamis crashes and tinkling of pictures
Interior and soil liquefaction. Tsunamis are falling to the floor, china crashing
tidal waves. These are caused when onto the tiled kitchen floor having
homes which suffered the most “walked” across and out of the
GeoFile Series 30 Issue 1 the epicentre of an earthquake is close
damage were those made of adobe. cabinets, and falling furniture, and
Fig 647_04 Mac/eps/illustrator 15 s/s to the coast or on the seafloor. This
In urban areas,
NELSON THORNESmany people were
PUBLISHING the whole building was shaking and
can lead to enormous underwater
forced
Artist:toDavid
sleepRussell
in tents, in parks
Illustration moving as if it was in the hand of
landslides. Water then falls into the
or on the streets because their a giant or a dice shaker. It seemed
area where subsidence has taken
houses were uninhabitable and to go on for ever –approximately
place, which results in water at the
because they feared the effects of a minute and a half, but it seemed
coast retreating away from the land.
aftershocks. 4,013 schools and 79 like an eternity. The shaking and the
However, about 15 minutes later
hospitals were also damaged. noise finally subsided and stopped
the water returns as a huge wave,
• In the capital, the Fine Arts with one final crash as the barbecue
followed by a series of other waves,
Museum and National Library fell over, and we struggled to our
some of which can be higher than the
were damaged. A fire caused by feet, trembling with nervousness.’
initial one. These waves can spread
the earthquake led to damage
very quickly out into deeper water,
to a chemical plant on the
where they can travel at speeds of
outskirts of the city. Both the
500 to 950 km per hour (the speed
international airports in Santiago
of a jet plane), but they don’t show
and Concepcion (which together
themselves until they reach shallow
handle over two-thirds of Chile’s
water again. At this point they slow
air traffic) were closed, and it was
down and become much higher.
estimated that this cost Chile’s
When they eventually break, their
international airline, LAN,
height can also be affected by the
approximately $25 million in lost
coastal topography and aspect, so
local passenger traffic alone. Most
some places can receive higher waves
of Santiago was left without water
than other places close by.
or electricity, but four days later
90% of the city had these services Immediately after the earthquake, Source: Richard Fletcher
restored. There was a great deal the Pacific Tidal Warning Centre
of damage to houses and property issued a tsunami warning, suggesting a campsite packed with people on
in the city. Figure 5 is an account that waves would cause destruction holiday during the weekend of 27
of what happened during the along nearby shores. Approximately and 28 February. Several ports on
earthquake, provided by Richard 30 minutes after the first shock, a the coast were affected. The port of
Fletcher, a resident of Santiago, series of waves did hit Chile’s coastal Talcahuano was hit by a wave 2.3 m
and it illustrates what it is like towns. Eyewitnesses observed three high (the tsunami waves caused by
to experience an earthquake as or four distinct waves, with the third the March 2011 earthquake in Japan
well as the damage it can cause or fourth usually being the highest. reached up to 37.9 m in height). This
to homes and property. Figure 5 Figure 4 shows the highest wave flooded the main square, leaving
shows a photograph taken in Mr heights recorded at places along the behind a large fishing boat. Small
Fletcher’s house showing some coast of Chile. The single largest fishing villages on the coast were
of the damage caused by this loss of life caused either directly or also similarly affected. The port of
earthquake. indirectly by the earthquake was Valparaiso was closed for a day due
• The Maule region was most on La Isla Orrego, an island in the to damage caused by the tsunami.
seriously affected by the River Maule, when a tsunami flooded Robinson Crusoe Island, the largest

Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2011

September 2011  no.647  Chile's 2010 earthquake – damage and recovery

of the Juan Fernandez Islands, The difference in the death toll partly United States provided water,
located 660 km off the coast of Chile, reflects lessons learnt as a result of food and satellite communications
was struck by a wave which killed the Valdivia earthquake, in May 1960, equipment. The UK’s Lancashire
four people, with 11 others reported which struck in the same area as the Fire and Rescue Service donated
as missing. 2010 earthquake. Then, 1,655 people a ‘trapped person locator’, which
died and two million people were left uses microphones to detect noise
The Pacific Tidal Warning Centre homeless. After this, the government and vibrations, making it easier to
also predicted that a wave 4.8 m high developed an improved design code locate people who are trapped in
could hit the Hawaiian Islands. A for new buildings to enable them collapsed buildings. Non-government
series of tsunami waves did reach to better withstand earthquakes. organisations like the Red Cross
these islands at noon on 27 February, This requires the framework of also helped. $58 million was raised
but they were just under a metre buildings to be constructed of heavily by a 24-hour telethon on Chilean
high and caused little damage. As a reinforced concrete columns which television.
precaution, a partial evacuation was can resist the forces resulting from an
ordered on Easter Island, 3,510 km earthquake. This did seem to help to Five days after the earthquake, some
from the coast of Chile. Warnings prevent widespread building collapse 400 lorries had been sent to the
were also issued in 53 other countries in Chile, whereas in Haiti, many worst-affected areas, carrying 16,000
with coastlines along the Pacific deaths were due to people being tonnes of emergency aid. To provide
Ocean. Thousands of people in Japan buried under collapsed buildings. accommodation for people who
left their homes in case of flooding, had lost their homes, 12 emergency
and there were reports of damage in Immediately after the earthquake the housing areas were set up, composed
Peru, Nicaragua, French Polynesia, President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, first of tents and then wooden huts 2
with waves 1.8 m high. In Mexico declared a state of catastrophe and x 5 m in size for individual families.
and Hawaii, damage was only on a declared six regions of the country – Six months on from the earthquake,
small scale. A tsunami warning was Valparaiso, Metropolitana, O’Higgins, some residents in affected areas
issued to places on Australia’s east Maule, Bio-Bio and Araucania – were critical that more had not been
coast, predicting that large waves disaster areas. Soldiers were sent to done to rebuild housing, but the
were possible for several hours during the worst affected regions of Maule government argued that new building
the Sunday following the earthquake, and Bio-Bio to prevent looting of could not take place until detailed
which led to the closure of several food and electrical goods. These surveys had been made to ensure that
beaches. Waves of between 10 and 50 troops took control of these regions potential land for building was safe
cm were recorded, but there was little and imposed a curfew, in some cities for housing in the event of another
damage. restricting residents to only six hours earthquake.
outdoors during the day. Troops
Soil liquefaction delivered basic supplies to houses. In the longer term, the government
This is a process where soil loses set up a special fund to pay for the
its solidity and strength due to the The government also reached an rebuilding of houses, hospitals, roads
stresses applied to it by forces like agreement with the major super- and schools.
earthquake shockwaves. The process markets to give basic foodstuffs to
is especially common in sandy soils people affected by the earthquake. At
which are waterlogged, and can cause first the government did not call for
soil to flow like a liquid, hence the international help, but when the full
term liquefaction. It can explain why extent of the damage was realised,
on a local scale, some places can see assistance was requested in the form
more damage from earthquakes than of field hospitals, water purification
others. For example, in Concepcion, plants, temporary bridges, and
four eight-storey residential buildings expert damage assessment. The
were severely damaged. They had
been built on a site composed of
compacted sand. And all four bridges Focus Questions
over the Bio Bio river near the same
town were damaged, due to collapse 1. (a) Identify the main processes of tectonic activity found at destructive
as a result of liquefaction. plate margins.
(b) Describe the landforms found at destructive plate margins.
(c) What are the processes at destructive plate margins which produce the
Management and response landforms found there?
to the earthquake
In January 2010, Haiti was hit by 2. (a) What is the difference between conservative and destructive plate
an earthquake which killed 220,000 margins?
people. The 2010 Chilean earthquake (b) Why is it particularly dangerous to live near destructive plate
was 500 times stronger than the one margins?
in Haiti, but resulted in only 521
deaths. 3. Using the February 2010 earthquake as an example, suggest how far the
impact of an earthquake is dependent on its magnitude.

4. (a) Identify the physical characteristics of tsunamis.

(b) What causes tsunamis?

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