Chilean Earthquake

8.8 Magnitude Temblor Hits Chile
by Bob Chan

On February 27, 2010, at 03:34 local time, an earthquake of 8.8 magnitude and lasted for about three minutes. The epicenter of the earthquake was offshore from the Maule Region, approximately 5 miles west of Curanipe and 71 miles northeast of Chile's second largest city, Concepción. The quake was felt as far north as southern Peru which was over 500 miles away and many Argentine cities, including Buenos Aires. In the Chilean capital Santiago over 500,000 homes were destroyed and power is still out and, so far, 700 people have been confirmed dead but the toll is still rising. The survivors had to deal with over 90 aftershocks including an aftershock of 6.2 was recorded 20 minutes after the initial quake and also a 6.9-magnitude offshore earthquake less than 90 minutes after the initial quake. Many countries have already offered support for those in Chile and the Red Cross is assembling. A tsunami amplitude of up to 8 ft 6 in high was recorded in the sea at Valparaíso, Chile and other areas along the Pacific rim such as California were warned but were very unlikely to get large waves. However, Hokkaido, the largest island in Japan was flooded, presumably by the waves from Chile. It is the seventh strongest earthquake ever recorded and was 800 times more forceful than the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010.