preview

Earthquakes On May 22, 1960 In Chile

Decent Essays

According to Brillinger (2011), earthquakes were recorded after happening to get an earthquake statistics. Earthquakes may be large or small, serious or trivial; however, the higher the magnitude, the greater the damage to a particular location and the surrounding area. Earthquakes can also create other natural disasters, like tsunamis and volcanic eruptions, which bring more dangerous disasters than earthquakes. Statistics of earthquakes can be extremely important for it can give governments plans to do rebuilding after earthquakes, can help scientists better detect and anticipate earthquakes, and can provide more information to public to learn about earthquakes. It is helpful to take a look at existed statistics; from the website of US government, …show more content…

Magnitude of the earthquake was 9.5 out of 10, with a rupture zone of about 1,000 km. About 1,655 people were killed, 3,000 wounded, 2 million homeless, and about $550 million lost in southern Chile. The volcano actually triggered a tsunami that killed 61 people and caused extensive damage in Hawaii, the Philippines, Easter Island, Samoa, and California. Residual damage caused landslides and volcanic eruptions after two days and lasted for several weeks. There were four foreshocks with magnitudes of seven or upper, five aftershocks with seven or upper levels, and some volcanoes. The first tremors and aftershocks began on May 21, 1960 and lasted until November 1, 2016.

The second strongest earthquake in history and the strongest in the United States occurred in Alaska on March 27, 1964, about 5 pm and lasted about five minutes in size with a magnitude of 9.2. 131 people were killed, resulting in 311 million (2.3 billion today after inflation-adjusted) US dollar losses because of this earthquake. Local tsunami and transoceanic tsunamis crossing the Pacific Ocean was also due to the earthquake. This earthquake was particularly important because it helped to confirm the tectonic plate

Get Access