The April 1, 2014 M 8.2 earthquake in northern Chile occurred as the result of thrust faulting at shallow depths near the Chilean coast. The location and mechanism of the earthquake are consistent with slip on the primary plate boundary interface, or megathrust, between the Nazca and South America plates. At the latitude of the earthquake, the Nazca plate subducts eastward beneath the South America plate at the rate of 65 mm/yr. Subduction along the Peru-Chile Trench to the west of Chile has led to the uplift of the Andes mountain range and has produced some of the largest earthquakes in the world, including the 2010 M 8.8 Maule earthquake in central Chile, and the largest earthquake on the record, the 1960 M 9.5 earthquake in southern Chile.
The April 1 earthquake occurred in a region of historic seismic quiescence- termed the northern Chile or Iquique seismic gap. Historical records indicate a M 8.8 earthquake occurred within the Iquique gap in 1877, which was preceded immediately to the north by a M 8.8 earthquake in 1868. A recent increase in seismicity rates has occurred in the vicinity of the April 1 earthquake. An M 6.7 earthquake with similar faulting mechanism occurred on March 16, 2014 and was followed by 60+ earthquake of M4+, and 26 earthquakes of M5+.
Comment list ( 0 )
