The 1420 Caldera earthquake shook the southern portion of

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in th ...

on September 1 and caused

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

s in Chile as well as

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and the towns of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. The earthquake is thought to have had a size of 8.8–9.4 . Historical records of the tsunami exist for the Japanese harbours of Kawarago and

Aiga The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity ...

where confused residents saw the water recede in the morning of September 1, without any sign of an earthquake. In Chile, rockfalls occurred along the coast as well, producing blocks of up to 40 tons that are now found inland. This is also consistent with the identification of a possible

tsunami deposit A tsunami deposit (the term tsunamiite is also sometimes used) is a sedimentary unit deposited as the result of a tsunami. Such deposits may be left onshore during the inundation phase or offshore during the 'backwash' phase. Such deposits are u ...

in Mejillones Bay that has been dated to the range 1409 to 1449. Deposits found by coring of recent sediments in wetland near Tongoy Bay have also been linked to the 1420 tsunami.

References

1420 1420 in Asia Megathrust earthquakes in Chile Caldera earthquake 15th-century earthquakes History of Atacama Region Medieval tsunamis Pre-Columbian natural disasters Tsunamis in Chile Tsunamis in Japan Tsunamis in the United States {{SouthAm-earthquake-stub

See also

References