1877 Iquique earthquake

Earthquake in Chile 1877 Iquique earthquake yes 1877-05-10 May 9, 1877 21:16 South America 8.5 s y8.7–8.9 w y9.0 t yes -19.6 -70.2 type:event inline,title Tarapacá Department, Peru and Litoral Department, Bolivia (both now part of Chile) Yes 11 2,385 The 1877 Iquique earthquake occurred at 21:16 local time on 9 May (10 May UTC). It had a magnitude of 8.5 on the surface-wave magnitude scale.es Servicio sismológico Universidad de Chile, https://archive.today/20120629151808/http://ssn.dgf.uchile.cl/terremoto.html Sismos importantes o destructivos desde 1570. Other estimates of its magnitude have been as high as 8.9 w yes and 9.0 t yes (based on the size of the tsunami). It had a maximum intensity of XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scalehttps://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/event-more-info/2248 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 1 August 2022 10.7289/V5TD9V7K and triggered a devastating tsunami. A total of 2,385 people died, mainly in Fiji from the tsunami. Historical context Affected areas in the Litoral Department of Bolivia (present-day Antofagasta Region, Chile) had during this period been subject to the Atacama border dispute between the two countries. Under the 1874 boundary treaty between Bolivia and Chile, the border between the two nations as of 1877 followed the 24th parallel south. The terms of that treaty required that Bolivia not levy taxes on Chilean companies mining nitrates between the 23rd and 24th parallels (including the city of Antofagasta) for 25 years, except for agreed duties to be shared between the two countries.Bruce W. Farcau The Ten Cents War: Chile, Peru, and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific, 1879–1884 https://books.google.com/books?id=BsxISMTwsSUC 2000 Greenwood Publishing Group 978-0-275-96925-7 39, 40 Following extensive damage in the 1877 earthquake and tsunami, the municipal authorities in Antofagasta voted for a tax of 10 centavos per quintal (approximately 46 kg on or) of nitrates exported to fund reconstruction of the town. The Chilean Antofagasta Nitrate & Railway Company, a major nitrate mining company in the region, refused to pay, backed by the Chilean government. This dispute resulted in the War of the Pacific, fought from 1879 to 1884, by which Chile gained control of territory as far north as Tacna, including Bolivia's entire coastline. Tectonic setting Coastal regions of Peru and Chile lie above the convergent boundary, where the Nazca plate is being subducted beneath the South American plate along the line of the Peru–Chile Trench. The rate of convergence across this boundary is measured at about 8 cm on per year. This boundary has been the site of many great megathrust earthquakes, in addition to events caused by faulting within both the subducting and over-riding plates. Characteristics Earthquake The shaking lasted for five minutes at Caleta Pabellón de Pica, a coastal town 70 km on south of Iquique. The area of felt intensity of VIII on the Mercalli intensity scale or greater, extended from about 50 km on south of Arica to just south of Cobija. This indicates a rupture length of about 420 km on.Comte D. Pardo M. 1991 Reappraisal of Great Historical Earthquakes in the Northern Chile and Southern Peru Seismic Gaps Natural Hazards 4 1 23–44 10.1007/bf00126557 1991NatHa...4...23C 140190546 Tsunami A 10 m on wave was observed along about 500 km on of coastline, from Arica in the north to Mejillones in the south.Hatori T. 1968 Study on distant tsunamis along the Coast of Japan. Part 2, tsunamis of South American origin http://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2261/12387/1/ji0462006.pdf Bulletin of the Earthquake Research Institute 46 345–359 https://web.archive.org/web/20110807132017/http://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2261/12387/1/ji0462006.pdf 2011-08-07 2 January 2011 Eight separate large waves were recorded in Arica.NGDC Runup Information https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/tsunami/runup-more-info/1173 1 August 2022 The tsunami affected the coasts of Peru and northern Chile and was observed across the Pacific Rim.https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/tsunami/related-runups/1075 Tsunami Runups National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service: NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 1 August 2022 10.7289/V5PN93H7An oceanic perturbation, Otago Daily Times, Issue 4753, 12 May 1877, Page 2 A tsunami height of 2 m on was observed in Fiji; 3.7 m on in Hilo, Hawaii; and 3 m on in Kamaishi, Iwate, Japan. Damage The earthquake shaking caused significant damage over most of the coastal parts of the Tarapacá and Litoral departments. The tsunami reached St. Mark's Cathedral in Arica. The hulk of the U.S. gunboat Wateree, which had been beached hundreds of metres inland by the final wave of the tsunami triggered by the 1868 Arica earthquake, was moved several kilometres to the north along the coast and nearer the shoreline.Kovach R.L. Early earthquakes of the Americas https://books.google.com/books?id=FzmyiyI3_wIC&pg=PA138 2004 Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-82489-7 138 Casualties The earthquake itself killed 103 people, including 33 workers as a result of a landslide at Caleta Pabellón de Pica and four miners in Tocopilla. An additional 200 deaths in Caleta Pabellón de Pica were attributed to the tsunami, in addition to 77 other casualties across the coastal Tarapacá and Litoral region. The majority of deaths from the tsunamiroughly 2,000were in Fiji, with another five in Hilo, Hawaii. Future earthquake hazard The rupture area of the 1877 earthquake has been recognised as one of the major seismic gaps on the plate boundary, known as the "Northern Chile Seismic Gap". The w y 7.7 2007 Tocopilla earthquake occurred at the southern edge of the gap, but is not considered to have necessarily reduced the risk of a great megathrust earthquake within this area.Delouis B. Pardo M., Legrand D. & Monfret T. 2009 The Mw 7.7 Tocopilla Earthquake of 14 November 2007 at the Southern Edge of the Northern Chile Seismic Gap: Rupture in the Deep Part of the Coupled Plate Interface Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 99 1 87–94 10.1785/0120080192 http://www.saferproject.net/doc/publications_safer/Tocopilla_BSSA.pdf 2009BuSSA..99...87D https://web.archive.org/web/20110724051908/http://www.saferproject.net/doc/publications_safer/Tocopilla_BSSA.pdf 24 July 2011 In 2005, a recurrence period of 135 years was estimated for great earthquakes along this part of the plate boundary, suggesting that a similar earthquake to the 1877 event was likely in the early 21st century.http://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 (ISAG 2005, Barcelona), Extended Abstracts 813–816 2 January 2011 The 2014 Iquique earthquake struck in the same seismic gap with a magnitude of w 8.2. See also 1868 Arica earthquake List of earthquakes in Chile List of historical earthquakes List of tsunamis List of megathrust earthquakes References Further reading Vigny C. Klein E. The 1877 megathrust earthquake of North Chile two times smaller than thought? A review of ancient articles Journal of South American Earth Sciences 117 2022 0895-9811 10.1016/j.jsames.2022.103878 103878 2022JSAES.11703878V 249697610 free Iquique Category:Megathrust earthquakes in Chile Category:Megathrust earthquakes in Peru Category:Earthquakes in South America Category:Earthquakes in Bolivia Iquique Iquique Iquique Category:19th-century tsunamis Category:1877 natural disasters Category:Tsunamis in Japan Category:Tsunamis in New Zealand Category:History of Antofagasta Region Category:History of Tarapacá Region Category:Iquique Province Category:Tsunamis in Australia Category:May 1877 Category:Tsunamis in Fiji Category:1877 disasters in South America Category:1877 disasters in Oceania Category:Earthquakes in Oceania Category:Natural disasters in Fiji Category:19th-century disasters in Fiji