HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 1835 Concepción earthquake was an earthquake that occurred near the neighboring cities of Concepción and
Talcahuano Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile. ...
in
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
on 20 February at 11:30 local time (15:30 UTC), and had an estimated magnitude of about 8.5 . The earthquake triggered a
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) 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 underwater explosions (including detonations, ...
which caused the destruction of Talcahuano. A total of at least 50 people died from the effects of the earthquake and the tsunami. The earthquake caused damage from San Fernando in the north to Osorno in the south. It was felt over a still wider area from
Copiapó Copiapó () is a List of cities in Chile, city and communes of Chile, commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal List of towns in Chile, town of Caldera, Chile, Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capi ...
in the north to the island of Chiloe in the south and as far west as the
Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands () are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic islands: Robinson Crusoe Island, R ...
.


Tectonic setting

Chile lies above the convergent boundary between the Nazca plate and the South American plate, with a convergence rate of 66 mm/yr. This boundary has been the site of many historical megathrust earthquakes, including the largest earthquake ever recorded. The rupture area of the 1835 earthquake was noted as a prominent seismic gap, leading to a forecast in 2009 of a large earthquake ( 8.0–8.5) within a few decades. The 2010 Chile earthquake appears to have ruptured this part of the plate interface.


Damage

Concepción was devastated, with most buildings being destroyed. A later survey found that 33% of kiln-dried brick buildings, 71% of mud-brick buildings and 95% of stone-built constructions were destroyed with all the rest being damaged. Despite this degree of damage only 50 people were reported dead. The low level of fatalities was attributed to the gradual increase in the intensity of shaking and that the earthquake occurred during the middle of the day, giving most of the inhabitants time to get clear. The destruction at Talcahuano was greater still due to the effects of the tsunami, which left only the lower parts of some buildings standing. A schooner was swept about 200 m inland, into the middle of the ruined town. There were few deaths, as the inhabitants had time to run up the hills behind the town.


Characteristics


Earthquake

The shaking lasted for two minutes, with gradually increasing intensity. At least 300 aftershocks were noted during the next 12 days. The land was instantly uplifted along parts of the coast, as much as in places, although this was followed by subsidence in the following days.


Tsunami

There were three separate waves reported at Talcahuano, the first of which had a run-up of . The maximum run-up of was recorded at Coelemu.


Remarks

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
was visiting the area while on the second voyage of HMS ''Beagle'' and recorded his observations of the earthquake in
Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...
and its effects and the subsequent tsunami in Concepción and Talcahuano. He remarked: ''Beagle''s captain, Robert FitzRoy, wrote a paper suggesting that the earthquake had affected the currents running along the South American coast. The paper was submitted to the Admiralty during the court martial of Captain Michael Seymour of HMS ''Challenger'', whose ship was run ashore on rocks in May 1835 near the mouth of the Leübu River.Gribbin, John and Mary. ''Fitzroy: The Remarkable Story of Darwin's Captain and the Invention of the Weather Forecast''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. . pp. 166–169. Seymour was exonerated due in part to Fitzroy's argument.


See also

*
List of earthquakes in Chile __NOTOC__ Chile lies in a region which is adjacent to the fast-moving Nazca plate, and has high tectonic activity. The records for earlier centuries are apparently incomplete. Of the Lists of earthquakes#Strongest earthquakes by magnitude, worl ...
* List of historical earthquakes * List of tsunamis


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1835 Concepcion earthquake Megathrust earthquakes in Chile Concepcion Earthquake, 1835 Concepcion Earthquake, 1835 Tsunamis in Chile 19th-century tsunamis 1835 natural disasters February 1835 1835 disasters in Chile