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8.3 earthquake hits Chile

by IBNS 17 Sep 2015, 06:06 am

Washington, Sept 17 (IBNS): An earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter Scale rocked coast of Chile on Wednesday, officials said.

According to United States Geological Survey (USGS) website, the quake hit 46km west of Illapel city of Chile.

One person has been killed in the mishap, reports said.

"The September 16, 2015 M 8.3 earthquake west of Illapel, Chile, occurred as the result of thrust faulting on the interface between the Nazca and South America plates in Central Chile. At the latitude of this event, the Nazca plate is moving towards the east-northeast at a velocity of 74 mm/yr with respect to South America, and begins its subduction beneath the continent at the Peru-Chile Trench, 85 km to the west of the September 16 earthquake. The size, location, depth and mechanism of this event are all consistent with its occurrence on the megathrust interface in this region," read the website.

"While commonly plotted as points on maps, earthquakes of this size are more appropriately described as slip over a larger fault area. Events of the size of the September 16, 2015 earthquake are typically about 230x100 km in size (length x width)," it said.

the USGS said: "Chile has a long history of massive earthquakes, including the 2010 M 8.8 Maule earthquake in central Chile, which ruptured a ~400 km long section of the plate boundary south of this 2015 event (and to the south of the Juan Fernandez Ridge, which enters the trench immediately south of the 2015 earthquake). This subducton zone also hosted the largest earthquake on record, the 1960 M 9.5 earthquake in southern Chile. Over the century prior to the September 16, 2015 earthquake, the region within 400 km of this event has hosted 15 other M 7+ earthquakes."

Several strong aftershocks have been reported.

According to reports, buildings shook in Chile's capital Santiago.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned that tsunami waves reaching 1 to 3 metres above the tide level are possible along some coasts of Chile.

Tsunami alerts has also been issued for several nations including Peru, Mexico, Japan among others.