1960 valdivia earthquake eyewitness accounts30 Apr 1960 valdivia earthquake eyewitness accounts
What caused the Chile earthquake of 1960? Going to high ground and staying there helped save lives during the 1960 Chilean tsunami, not only in Chile but also in Onagawa, Japan. Just after midnight, the water under the bridge rose to 4 feet (1.2 meters) above normal-the first wave of the tsunami had arrived. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. A carabinero (police) boat, Gloria, was towing a few of these boats when the second earthquake struck on 22 May. The first of these was the 8.1 Mw Concepcin earthquake at 06:02 UTC-4 on 21 May 1960. (2009). The epicenter of this megathrust earthquake was near Lumaco, approximately 570 kilometres (350mi) south of Santiago, with Valdivia being the most affected city. [18] Structures that had been designed to resist earthquakes performed well during the earthquake, chiefly suffering damage when affected by soil subsidence or small fault movements. I cannot describe the feeling is this the one. [66], An earthquake of similar magnitude occurred in this area around 1800 BC, as has been determined by dating charcoal and shells washed into the Atacama Desert by the tsunami. The shock is generally agreed to have had a magnitude of 9.5, though some studies alternately proposed that it may have been 9.4 or 9.6. Aftershocks were recorded for around a month after the main tremor. Hundreds of people were already reported dead by the time the tsunami struck. Telephones were also off. The next day, Mr. Vera found a layer of sand several inches thick on much of the land the tsunami had overrun. Also known as the Great Chilean earthquake, it was a 9.5 MW earthquake making it the most powerful ever recorded till date. The family of Jos Navarro, farming on a low peninsula near Maulln, Chile, had only one quick route to high ground after the 1960 Chile earthquake. Find Valdivia Earthquake 1960 stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. It is very scary, horrifying actually. Several coastal towns were inundated by a 25-metre (80-foot) tsunami. The largest earthquake ever recorded by instruments struck southern Chile on May 22, 1960. Some areas around the margin of the Pacific Ocean are located near subduction zones similar to the one that produced the 1960 Chile earthquake and its tsunami. By 23 June, the main dam had been lowered from 24 to 15m (79 to 49ft), allowing 3billion cubic metres of water to leave the lake gradually, but still with considerable destructive power. By 1:00 a.m., the water beneath the bridge had dropped to 7 feet (2.1 meters) below normal. Perhaps the most basic guidance for people in Cascadia comes from the account on the following page. There are reports of what would have been earthquake lights in Purn. The Valdivia Earthquake occurred at 19:11 UTC (15:11 local time) on 22 May, 1960, and is the largest earthquake recorded (M w 9.5). Estimates were the rupture zone stretched anywhere from 500 kilometers (311 miles) to almost 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) along the country's coast. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Both he and Ms. Cubate's mother drowned in the tsunami. The alternative explanation, with two faults slipping nearly simultaneously, could help explain the true mechanism of the earthquake. May 21, 1960 (1 day) 7.9 M w Arauco Province, Chile: May 22, 1960 35 km 9.5 M w XII 1960 Valdivia earthquake: Thrust: November 2, 2002 (2 years) 7.3 M w Sumatra, Indonesia: December 26, 2004 30 km 9.2 M w IX 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami: Thrust October 20, 2006 (10 months) 6.4 M w Ica Region, Peru: August 15, 2007 35 km 8.0 M w VIII The second and third Concepcin earthquakes occurred the next day at 06:32 UTC-4 (7.1 Mw) and 14:55 UTC-4 (7.8 Mw) on 22 May. Suddenly the lights went out and we heard the sound of police sirens and ambulances. According to the chronicle of Mario de Lobera, corregidor of Valdivia in 1575, a landslide blocked the outflow of the lagoon of Renigua. Measurements had been made in Hawaii of Aleutian tsunamis, but little was known about the heights of tsunamis from Chile. Although Mr. Hernndez survived the tsunami, he lost his 13-year-old son to the waves. Together they watched the tsunami overrun their fields and carry away the remains of their house. The 1960 earthquake found Mrs. Silva at home and her husband on a nearby hillside. Scientists are saying one of the biggest quakes in the 20th century now happening in Valdivia located in southern Chile. [18] Two days after the earthquake Cordn Caulle, a volcanic vent close to Puyehue volcano, erupted. The case of Chile is puzzling in that it is the most advanced economy in Latin America. Everyone was running into the streets in fear. Mr. Weischet took these before and after photos. How much damage was caused by the Chile earthquake of 1960? On the way back, they met a police officer who told them that the danger had passed. Waves wracked coastal communities as far away as New Zealand, Japan, and the Philippines. Santiago Fernandez, from Arica, was at university when the ground began to shake. Remains of houses from Queule ended up as much as a mile inland (according to a report by Wolfgang Weischet;, but Margarita Liemp's house was deposited intact; even her drinking glasses were unbroken. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By 1:04 a.m., the men on the bridge realized that they should run the few hundred feet to high ground. However, like everyone else in the area of Maulln, Quenuir, and La Pasada, he was actually living through a magnitude 9.5 earthquake, the largest ever measured. [23] The schooner La Milagrosa departed from Queule on 22 May to load a cargo of Fitzroya wood shingles in a small port south of Corral. Though the oblique angle by which the waves approached the Pacific coast of the United States mitigated their force, Crescent City, California, saw waves of up to 5.6 feet (1.7 metres), and boats and docks in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Long Beach were damaged. The 1960 Valdivia earthquake struck Chile on the afternoon of 22nd May 1960, causing widespread damage with Valdivia being the most affected city.Also known as the Great Chilean earthquake, it was a 9.5 M W earthquake making it the most powerful ever recorded till date. I went to bed feeling a little uneasy as the receptionist had warned me of aftershocks and told me to leave my light on, so I made sure I planned an exit route out of the window in case of emergencies. At 16:20 UTC-4, a wave of 8m (26ft) struck the Chilean coast, mainly between Concepcin and Chilo. Mr. Argomedo was on high ground during the hours that followed the earthquake. This quake was preceded by 4 foreshocks bigger than magnitude 7.0, including a magnitude 7.9 on May 21 that caused severe damage in the Concepcion area. Eduardo Veliz, also from Iquique, said he witnessed a scene of chaos. [55] The scholar Erik Dahmn believes that the earthquake resulted in a "creative destruction" for farmers of Southern Chile. It handles some risks adequately, from public health and medicine to the risks generated by industrial production. The combined effects of the disaster left two million people homeless. [23], Santiago, another ship anchored at Corral at the time of the quake, managed to leave Corral in a bad state but was wrecked off the coast of Mocha Island on 24 May. As of 2000, the remnants of Canelos were still visible. Residents of Valdivia, Chile, inspect an enormous crack caused by the Great Chilean Earthquake on May 22, 1960. In the Philippines, tsunami waves left 32 dead or missing. My small dog woke me barking, birds outside were fluttering wildly. [19], One of the main aftershocks occurred on 6 June in Aysn Region. A massive earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 has hit central Chile, affecting about two million people, officials say. As the quake occurred just prior to a revolution in seismologic technology in the 1960s, these figures are based mainly on post hoc analysis. Historians Yoselin Jaramillo and Ismael Basso report that people in Queule decades later know about 50 people to have died because of the earthquake and tsunami.[27]. Things were pretty chaotic when we arrived as lots of people who work in the city have homes inland where the epicentre of the quake was and were leaving the city to check on their houses and families. Facebook Twitter Google Email Some seismologists believe the eruption was linked to the Valdivia earthquake. Click here to navigate to parent product. Such waves kept arriving for several hours. The Chilean coast was severely battered by the localized tsunamis which reached a height up to 25 m (82 ft) and caused numerous fatalities. Some pavements near the rivershore in Valdivia cracked and collapsed much like in the 1960 earthquake. The Mapuche spoke primarily Mapudungun. Not all the tsunami victims were found quickly. After hours of drifting around in Corral Bay and Valdivia River, the ship was wrecked and subsequently abandoned by its crew at 1800 local time. Others in Hilo were unsure of how seriously to take the warnings, because several previous alerts had been followed by tsunamis that did little damage. The monetary cost of the disaster has been estimated in the range of US$400 million to US$800 million (2.9 to 5.8 billion in 2011, after adjusting for inflation). The bus stopped abruptly, and all the locals on the bus were craning their heads to see what was going on. Estimates were the rupture zone stretched anywhere from 500 kilometers (311 miles) to almost 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) along the countrys coast. After being swept up by the tsunami, Nelly Gallardo floated on a log and Armanda Cubate floated on a roof until the next morning (see far right in photo). The combined effects of the disaster left two million people homeless. Updates? Many more would have been, had it not been for Chiles preparedness for earthquakes, and the remote location of the epicenter. More specifically, the German and Danish governments helped to create the Centro Tecnolgico de la Leche (the Milk Technological Centre) in the Southern University of Chile. Only when they saw a low wall of water less than a mile away did the Navarros head for high ground. in English from Illinois State University in 2005. However, when he heard shouts from the direction of Maulln, he took them as a warning of a second wave and went directly to the barn. Observe devastation wrought by the Chile earthquake of 1960, https://www.britannica.com/event/Chile-earthquake-of-1960, USGS Earthquake Hazards Program - 1960 Great Chilean Earthquake, Geology.com - World's Largest Recorded Earthquake, Castro, Chilo Island, after the Chile earthquake of 1960, tsunami damage in Hilo, Hawaii after the Chile earthquake of 1960. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Hawai'i had been struck in the past by deadly tsunamis, including ones from Chile in 1837 and 1877 and one from the Aleutian Islands in 1946 that in Hilo alone killed 98 people. The cities of Puerto Montt and Valdivia experienced extensive damage. [34] The eruption was believed to have been triggered by the earthquake. On May 22, 1960, the stress built up by years of increasing compressional force between the rocks of one plate and another was released by fracturing rocks. Regions where it occurs are known as subduction zones. At first, Mrs. Llanquimn was not alarmed by this news, but her husband took it as a warning that the sea, when it came back, might surge inland. [22] Most of the tsunami-related deaths in Japan occurred in the northeast Sanriku region of Honshu. Mr. Atala was Maulln's most prosperous merchant. As the first wave receded, they looked for something to climb. Turning around, they watched the 20-foot-high, nearly vertical front of the wave hit the bridge, and water splashed high into the air. Because of this, people in Cascadia need to look elsewhere for guidance about tsunami survival. The route was eastward along an unpaved road, across a bridge over a tidal stream, to uplands called Chuyaqun. [35], As a result of an evacuation plan, there were no reported human deaths associated with the eruption. This era of prosperity ended with the 1960 earthquake. For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. But the most terrible scenes of the earthquake were in small towns east of Iquique. [64], The sacrifice was learned about by authorities after a boy in the commune of Nueva Imperial denounced to local leaders the theft of two horses; these were allegedly eaten during the sacrifice ritual. Generation. Chile earthquake of 1960, the largest earthquake recorded in the 20th century. In Chile, the earthquake and the tsunami that followed took more than 2,000 lives and caused property damage estimated at $550 million (1960 dollars). [17] With the exception of poor building sites, the zone of Mercalli scales intensities of VII or more all lay west of the Andes in a strip running from Lota (37 S) southwards. Soon after the shaking from the quake stopped, she walked about 100 yards inland to a house that was more than half a mile from the nearest high ground. Waves as high as 10.7meters(35 ft)were recorded 10,000kilometersfrom the epicenter, and as far away as Japan and the Philippines. In the regions of Maule and Bo Bo, houses built from adobe and masonry proved weak, while from Araucana to the south weak houses were mainly those built with inappropriate wood that had decayed over time. [40][41], The hospital of Valdivia, built in 1939, suffered major damages and patients had to be evacuated. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Survivors on the roof later pulled the mother's body from the water. About 3,000 people were injured. The death toll and the monetary losses caused by the earthquake cannot be stated with certainty. The tsunami that followed the 1960 Chile earthquake killed 105 people from Quenuir-a quarter of the village's population. Tsunami waves can become more than 30 feet high as they come into shore and can rush miles inland across low-lying areas. Great Chilean earthquake measured 9.5 on the MW making it the largest earthquake of the twentieth Century and the most powerful ever recorded. Collileufu is located in the Budi Lake area, south of Puerto Saavedra, which was highly isolated in 1960. Chile is located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a known zone of high seismicity. According to the Wikipedia article "1960 Valdivia earthquake." , The magnitude of the earthquake was 9.4-9.6. Great Chilean Earthquake. Just after 10 p.m. on May 22, 1960, seismologist Jerry Eaton and four companions assembled at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on the Island of Hawai'i. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. ABSTRACT. At the bottom of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the Nazca plate is being forced under the South American plate. In Osorno only about 20 houses were totally destroyed, although many firewalls and chimneys collapsed. On May 22, 1960, the largest earthquake in recorded historymagnitude 9.5struck southern Chile. San Francisco residents watch the city burn. [75] A survey showed that 434 persons in Valdivia had their homes damaged by the earthquake. [1] Another wave measuring 10m (33ft) was reported ten minutes later. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration It is the most commonly used scale to measure medium to large earthquake magnitudes. [73] This quake was reported to be centered approximately 35 kilometres (22mi) deep and several miles off shore. Although he was carried away, his warehouse created a shelter for about 20 people. The fault-displacement source of the earthquake extended over an estimated 560620 mile (9001,000 km) stretch of the Nazca Plate, which subducted under the South American Plate. The focus of the earthquake was relatively shallow at 33km (21mi), considering that earthquakes in northern Chile and Argentina may reach depths of 70km (43mi). The port of Puerto Montt collapsed. After this wave had passed and they thought it was safe, Mr. Eaton and his companions returned to the bridge and continued to record the water level during several more waves of the tsunami (see diagram below). About 100km (62mi) south of Riihue Lake, landslides in the mountains around Golgol River caused the river to dam up; when it burst through the earthen dam, it created a flood down to Puyehue Lake. CORFO also created the National Company of Telecommunications (ENTEL) out of a pressing need to improve and modernize communication efforts in times of disaster. The stranded boat was wrecked when a tsunami wave engulfed it. The 1960 Valdivia Earthquake On 22nd May 1960 (14:11 Chile time, 19:11 GMT), the greatest earthquake ever recorded in history, with magnitude of 9.5 degrees on the Richter scale, shocked the coastal regions of southern Chile. Chile's national disaster program reflects current understanding of risks. The damages were to areas of poor soil quality, chiefly former wetlands and artificial fills. The earthquake hit at 3:11 pm approximately 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of Chile, parallel to the city of Valdivia. The largest earthquake in the world occurred on May 22, 1960, in Chile. Subduction is a process that occurs at convergent boundaries of tectonic plates due to the movement of one plate under another. Early in May 1960, the big news was the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union-a Soviet missile had downed an American spy plane. El caso de Lota, Chile", "El domingo en que Valdivia sufri el terremoto ms violento del mundo", "Chile | Terremoto de Valdivia: cmo fue el poderoso sismo de 1960, el mayor registrado de la historia Vivienda al Da", "A 60 aos del terremoto de 1960 | Deutsche Wochenzeitung Cndor in Chile", "Further observations of geologic and geomorphic changes resulting from the catastrophic earthquake of May 1960, in Chile", "An Mw =7.7 slow earthquake in 1960 near the Aysn Fjord region, Chile", Revista de la Asociacin Geolgica Argentina, "El "Riihuazo" y su lucha contra la naturaleza", "Investigacin aplicada sobre Geografa Urbana: Un caso prctico en la ciudad de Valdivia", "Genesis y manifestacin de las inundaciones en el sur de Chile", "The Ecological Approach to the Conservation of Plants in Botanic Gardens - The Experience of the Botanic Garden in Valdivia, Chile", "National Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation for a Chile Resilient to Disasters of Natural Origin", "CONSULTATION REPORT ON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING", "Ancient Chilean tsunami scared local people away for 1000 years", "Predecessors of the giant 1960 Chile earthquake", "Tsunami After Deadly Earthquake Hits Chile", "Chile Earthquake Altered Earth Axis, Shortened Day", "El terremoto chileno del 27 de febrero de 2010: Anlisis preliminar de las consecuencias en la ciudad de Valdivia", 22 May 1960 South Central Chile Tsunami Amplitudes, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1960_Valdivia_earthquake&oldid=1152212584, This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 21:41. [58], The economy of the coastal town of Queule had during the 1950s developed significantly. Waves, as high as 5.5 m (18 ft), struck the Japanese island of Honshu around 22 hours after the earthquake, killing 138 people and destroying 1600 homes. The May 22nd 1960 Chilean earthquake was the largest earthquake on record with a magnitude 9.5. The boats found were used to navigate in Valdivia River and Corral Bay but had drifted into the high sea. Carrying their two youngest children, the couple hurried up a nearby hill, where they safely remained during the tsunami. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. The house also withstood the first two waves of the tsunami that followed the quake, but the third wave swept it away. [34] Between two sparsely populated and isolated Andean valleys, the eruption had few eyewitnesses and received little attention by local media, which was preoccupied with the severe and widespread damage and losses caused by the earthquake. Such coasts surround most of the Pacific Ocean but also include other areas, such as the shores of the Caribbean, eastern Canada, and the Mediterranean. The waves caused millions of dollars of damage at Hilo Bay on the main island of Hawaii, where they also killed 61 people. Actions that saved lives, and actions that cost lives, as recounted by eyewitnesses to the tsunami from the largest earthquake ever measured - the magnitude 9.5 earthquake in Chile on May 22, 1960. The tsunami that followed the earthquake caught the Riquelme family there. Because of its geography, Chile remains one of the most seismically active countries in the world. Anna Rooke, from Surrey, England, was travelling on a bus from Arica to Iquique when the earthquake struck. Before the earthquake, some of these blocks had modern concrete buildings built after the Great Valdivia fire of 1909. Omissions? Some residents of the town say that Mr. Atala was briefly restrained outside the warehouse by his wife, who grabbed his hair before he finally broke away. His son, Eduardo, said that afterward his father was among the missing and that his body was never found. ("The tsunami was so big that it even took the dead from their graves"). According to Nabih Soza, a fellow merchant, Mr. Atala entered this warehouse between the first and second waves of the tsunami that struck Maulln. At the moment the earthquake hit, we had trouble walking and leaving the classroom, as the movement was so terrible. [70] While the 1575 earthquake is considered the one most similar to that of 1960, it differed in not having caused any tsunami in Japan. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". About 3,000 people were injured. Gathering cameras, notebooks, flashlights, and steel measuring tapes, they piled into a Ford station wagon for the 30-mile ride down to Hilo. They were released from prison after two years. At 6:47 p.m. Hawaiian time, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey issued an official warning that waves were expected to reach Hilo at about midnight. Some of these areas remain sparsely vegetated while others have naturally developed more or less pure stands of Nothofagus dombeyi. In Hawai'i, the tsunami devastated the coastal town of Hilo, killing 61 people. You cannot download interactives. We find the Melinka earthquake occurs inside the slip region for the 1960 M9.5 Valdivia earthquake and within the highly locked portion of the megathrust inferred from inter . STF/AFP/Getty Images. Others describe taking refuge in buildings or trees or floating on debris-tactics that had mixed results and can be recommended only as desperate acts. In the account, all the people in and near the town of Maulln, Chile, survived the biggest earthquake ever measured. The train station and numerous buildings in the town were destroyed. The earthquake caused 400-800 million dollars of damage in US which is between 3.24-6.48 billion dollars US today. The earthquake was a megathrust earthquake resulting from the release of mechanical stress between the subducting Nazca Plate and South American Plate on the PeruChile Trench, off the coast of southern Chile. During the 1960 Chile earthquake, the western margin of the South American Plate lurched as much as 60 feet relative to the subducting Nazca Plate, in an area 600 miles long and more than 100 miles wide. Some arrived there by 4:45 a.m., as the first large wave entered town. The earthquake lasted very long. These vents produced an output of about 0.25km3 DRE both in form of lava flows and tephra. 1; 8 cm/yr; DeMets et al., 1990, Plafker and Savage, 1970 ). The 1960 Concepcin earthquakes were a succession of three destructive earthquakes that happened between 21 and 22 May 1960. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Fortunately today normality and calm has returned to the city. Shaking from the 1960 earthquake not only damaged roads but also caused landslides. He and his wife, Mara Silva, lived on low ground 2 miles east of Maulln. 2006. Everyone started crying and running out of the class. The quake occurred in the early afternoon (19:11 UTC) of May 22, 1960, and had a 9.5 rating [1] on the Moment magnitude scale. The Great Chilean Earthquake or Valdivian Earthquake was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. [56] The protected area of Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary was created in 1981 to protect the ecosystem. [25], The coastal localities of Mississipi and Mehun were struck by the tsunami causing the loss of fishing boats. Mr. Atala was probably trapped in the warehouse when the second wave of the tsunami washed the building away. The wave grew in height as it moved steadily toward the city, and the noise became deafening. The stories provide a mixed bag of lessons about tsunami survival. The Great Chilean earthquake occurred at 15:11 on 22nd May 1960. Eyewitness Reports - 1960 Valdivia Earthquake Eyewitness Accounts Endo Fukuei (above, in 1999) recalls the fireman's warning that spurred citizens of Onagawa, Japan, toward high ground as the 1960 Chilean tsunami reached the town's harbor. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Registered in England & Wales No. [17] As the earthquake destroyed Valdivia's flood barriers, general land subsidence exposed new areas to flooding.
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