kids encyclopedia robot

2010 Pichilemu earthquake facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
2010 Pichilemu earthquakes
Terremoto de Pichilemu de 2010
House damaged by the Pichilemu earthquake, in the epicentre town, as seen on 16 April 2011.
Above: House damaged by the Pichilemu earthquake, in the epicentre town, as seen on 16 April 2011. Below: Pichilemu earthquake shakemap produced by the United States Geological Survey
2010PichilemuShakeMapUSGS.png
UTC time Doublet earthquake:    
  2010-03-11 14:39:43
  2010-03-11 14:55:27
ISC event  
  14554049
  14400686
USGS-ANSS  
  ComCat
  ComCat
Local date 11 March 2010 (2010-03-11)
Local time  
  11:39 UTC-3
  11:55 UTC-3
Magnitude  
  6.9 Mw
6.3 ML
  7.0 Mw
Depth 33.1 kilometres (20.6 mi)
Epicenter Pichilemu, Chile
34°18′04″S 72°07′48″W / 34.301°S 72.13°W / -34.301; -72.13
Areas affected Chile
Argentina
Max. intensity MM X
Peak acceleration 0.086g (Curicó, Maule)
Tsunami Yes
Casualties 1 killed

A 6.9 earthquake occurred on March 11, 2010, 40 kilometers southwest of Pichilemu, O'Higgins Region, Chile . A tsunami warning was made by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Pacific-wide, although they warned of the possibility of local tsunamis within 100 kilometers of the epicenter (between San Antonio and Concepción).

Although news media first reported the earthquake as an aftershock of the February earthquake, the initial geological summary given by the United States Geological Survey said it was a different earthquake. Though unchained by the regional stress caused by the February 27 earthquake, the March event was not a fast adjustment to February's thrust fault rupture between the Nazca and South American plates, but it was caused by normal faulting inside one of those plates. However, it has not been positively decided in which plate the earthquake occurred.

Within 6 hours, 10 aftershocks took place, of these 2 were of magnitude 6 or greater and 7 between magnitude 5 and 6.

The earthquake took place shortly before the new president, Sebastián Piñera, was sworn in, at about 12:15 PM local time (15:15 UTC), at the Chilean congress in Valparaíso, where the shaking was clearly felt. The presidents of Bolivia, Paraguay, and Ecuador were present when the earthquake occurred, however, the television footage showed that the inauguration was not interrupted.

Damages reported by the Chilean news media include a collapsed pedestrian crossing over Chile Highway 5, north of Rancagua. The most affected place by the earthquake was Pichilemu, the epicentre of the earthquake. It destroyed the Ross Park, the most of the Agustín Ross Cultural Centre and many houses in Espinillo and Rodeillo.

May 2, 2010 aftershock

The May, 2 2010 Pichilemu earthquake was a magnitude 6.0 MW earthquake that struck off Pichilemu, Chile, at 10:52 AM on May 2, 2010 at the epicenter, at a depth of 31 kilometres (19 mi). USGS described that the epicenter was 70 kilometres (43 mi) south-southwest of San Antonio, 105 kilometres (65 mi) west Regional capital of Rancagua, 105 kilometres (65 mi) northwest of Curicó and 140 kilometres (87 mi) southwest of the Chilean capital of Santiago.

After almost exactly three hours later a second quake happens in the same area with an intensity of 4.8 MW

More than 10 aftershocks happened on May 2 and 3.

Related pages

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Terremoto de Pichilemu de 2010 para niños

kids search engine
2010 Pichilemu earthquake Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.