1868 Arica earthquake

Southern Peru Earthquake and Pacific Ocean Tsunami October 2024 1868 Arica earthquake File:Arequipa in Ruins, 1868 (14036420757) (cropped).jpg Arequipa's damaged main square Peru yes 13 August 1868 16:45 8.8–9.1 w y -18.5 -71.0 type:event inline,titlehttp://iisee.kenken.go.jp/utsu/index_eng.html Catalog of Damaging Earthquakes in the World (Through 2007) IISEE 28 February 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100306180217/http://iisee.kenken.go.jp/utsu/index_eng.html 6 March 2010 live Peru and northern Chile 11 25,000+ thumb|Arica after the earthquake and tsunami thumb|The USS Wateree beached at Arica, 430 yd m inland thumb|Sketches of Arica after the earthquake and tsunami from the Illustrated London News The 1868 Arica earthquake occurred on 13 August 1868, near Arica, then part of Peru, now part of Chile, at 21:30 UTC. It had an estimated magnitude between 8.8 and 9.1,Carvajal M. Gubler A. Davies G. Wang K. Sun T. Catalán P. A. 2025 Large Size of Two 19th-Century Chile-Peru Earthquakes Inferred From Trans-Pacific Tsunami Records https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2024GL113849 Geophysical Research Letters en 52 12 e2024GL113849 10.1029/2024GL113849 2025GeoRL..5213849C 1944-8007 free although earlier studies suggested a broader range of 8.5–9.3.Okal E.A. Borrero J.C. & Synolakis C.E. 2006 Evaluation of Tsunami Risk from Regional Earthquakes at Pisco, Peru https://www.earth.northwestern.edu/people/emile/PDF/EAO178.pdf Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 96 5 1634–1648 2006BuSSA..96.1634O 10.1785/0120050158 1 March 2010 A tsunami (or multiple tsunamis) in the Pacific Ocean was produced by the earthquake, which was recorded in Hawaii, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1868_08_13.php Arica, Peru (now Chile) 1868 August 13 21:30 UTC United States Geological Survey 26 October 2009 Historic Earthquakes 28 February 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100116170411/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1868_08_13.php 16 January 2010 dead Latest from Australia, Star, Issue 92, 29 August 1868, Page 3 Tectonic setting The earthquake occurred along the boundary between the Nazca plate and the South American plate. The earthquake was likely a result of thrust-faulting, caused by the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate. The coasts of Peru and Chile have a history of great megathrust earthquakes originating from this plate boundary, such as the 1960 Valdivia earthquake and the 2010 Chile earthquake. Damage The earthquake caused almost complete destruction in the southern part of Peru, including Arica, Tacna, Moquegua, Mollendo, Ilo, Iquique, Torata and Arequipa, resulting in an estimated 25,000 casualties, and many shipwrecks. The tsunami drove three ships anchored in port nearly 800 m on inland: the 1,560-ton Peruvian corvette BAP America 1864 2, the U.S. gunboat Wateree and the U.S. store ship Fredonia 1845 2, which was completely destroyed.https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers09-03/010040371.pdf Seismic hazard assessment in the Peru-Chile border region Zamudio Y. Berrocal J. & Fernandes C. 2005 6th International Symposium on Andean Geodynamics 813–816 28 February 2010 The brig Chañarcillo and two schooners, Rosa Rivera and Regalon, were also lost.Allen G.W. The Great South American Earthquakes of 1868 https://books.google.com/books?id=m6L1O1hxqzkC&pg=PA603 Harper's New Monthly Magazine April 1869 613 Okal et al. (2006) suggested that the tsunami also severely affected the port city of Pisco, although later studies have regarded this as weak evidence, instead concluding that Pisco and Callao likely experienced only mild inundation. The tsunami caused considerable damage in Hawaii, washing out a bridge along the Waiohi River. In New Zealand, it is the only fatal tsunami on record, causing substantial damage on the Chatham Islands and an estimated 20 people washed out to sea.https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12106143 NZ's only killer tsunami: What it means today Morton Jamie 13 August 2018 The New Zealand Herald 13 August 2018 1170-0777http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/106213804/only-deadly-nz-tsunami-on-record-hit-the-chathams-150-years-ago Only deadly NZ tsunami on record hit the Chathams, 150 years ago Stuff 13 August 2018 13 August 2018 On the mainland, Banks Peninsula was hardest hit with a Maori village and two houses washed away and boats damaged, and one death was recorded."Arrival of the schooner Rifleman from the Chatham Islands", Otago Daily Times, Issue 2048, 28 August 1868, p. 3 Characteristics Earthquake Two separate earthquakes have been described;https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/event-more-info/2139 Significant Earthquake Information National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. 1972 NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 10.7289/V5TD9V7K 22 March 2024 they may both refer to the same event. The earthquake was felt over a wide area, up to 1400 km on to the northwest in Samanco, Peru and 224 km on to the east in Bolivia. Estimates of its magnitude have varied. Okal et al. (2006) suggested a broad range of 8.5–9.3 based on tsunami modeling. However, Carvajal et al. (2025), using trans-Pacific tide gauge records from the United States and Australia together with tsunami modeling, argued that a narrower range of 8.8–9.1 is more plausible, and that the lower and upper extremes of earlier estimates are unlikely. A rupture length of about 600 km mi has been inferred from the pattern of isoseismals, making it one of the largest fault breaks in modern times. About 400 aftershocks were recorded by 25 August of that year. Contemporary accounts say that the earthquake shaking lasted somewhere between five and ten minutes. Tsunami Although this event generated a tsunami that was noted across the Pacific, most of the associated damage was localised along the coasts of southern Peru and what is now northernmost Chile. The first wave arrived at Arica 52 minutes after the earthquake, with a 12 m on height, followed by the largest 16 m on wave 73 minutes later. Future risk In 2001, the Arica area was identified as forming part of a seismic gap between 15° and 24°S, with no major earthquake since 1877. In accordance with this theory, a major earthquake was considered likely to happen in the near future.http://nthmp-history.pmel.noaa.gov/its2001/Separate_Papers/1-05_Rabinovich.pdf Tsunami risk estimation for the coasts of Peru and northern Chile Rabinovich A.B. Kulikov E.A. & Thomson R.E. 2001 ITS 2001 Proceedings, Session 1 281–291 28 February 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100721012643/http://nthmp-history.pmel.noaa.gov/its2001/Separate_Papers/1-05_Rabinovich.pdf 21 July 2010 dead More specifically, in 2005, a magnitude 8.6 event was forecast for the northern Chile part of the gap, the location of the subsequent 2014 Iquique earthquake. An earthquake affecting the same sector of the plate boundary as the 1868 event with a magnitude of 8.8 was also forecast as likely to occur by 2126. A repeat of the 1868 event would probably cause more casualties, because of the greater population in areas at risk. See also Chile Peru List of megathrust earthquakes 1877 Iquique earthquake 2014 Iquique earthquake List of earthquakes in Chile List of earthquakes in Peru List of historical earthquakes List of shipwrecks in August 1868 13 August List of tsunamis References Further reading Arica 1868: Un Tsunami y Un Terremoto https://www.memoriachilena.cl/temas/documento_detalle.asp?id=MC0064460 Manuel Fernández Canque 2007 University of Tarapacá 978-9562441940 Un día en la historia de Arica: 13 de agosto 1868 https://www.academia.edu/4228789 Manuel Fernández Canque 33–47 Dauer Quinn 2012 http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1875&context=etd Natural Disasters and Comparative State-Formation and Nation-Building: Earthquakes in Argentina and Chile (1822–1939) PhD FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations 10.25148/etd.FI12120403 free External links Arica Category:Megathrust earthquakes in Peru Category:Megathrust earthquakes in Chile E Arica earthquake Arica earthquake Category:19th-century tsunamis Category:1868 natural disasters Arica Arica Arica Earthquake Category:Tsunamis in New Zealand Category:August 1868 Category:1868 disasters in Chile