The 1940 Lima earthquake occurred on May 24 at 11:35 a.m. PST with a magnitude of 8.2 on the moment magnitude scale. Shaking from this powerful earthquake was felt throughout the country, and in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and

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 ...

. An estimated 179 to 300 people died while 3,500 left injured by the earthquake. The

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

was centered near the coastal cities of

Huacho Huacho () is a city in Peru, capital of the Huaura Province and capital of the Lima Region. Also is the most populated city of the Lima Region and Norte Chico civilization, Norte Chico. It is located 223 feet (68 metres) above sea level and 148&nbs ...

and Huaura, about north of the

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

capital,

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. There was 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, ...

of up to that did not cause damage.

Earthquake

The earthquake was a

megathrust Megathrust earthquakes occur at convergent plate boundaries, where one tectonic plate is forced underneath another. The earthquakes are caused by slip along the thrust fault that forms the contact between the two plates. These interplate earthqu ...

event, caused by a sudden slippage along a section of fault under the Peru–Chile Trench. Here, the

Nazca plate The Nazca plate or Nasca plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic list of tectonic plates, tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America. The ongoing subduction, along the Peru– ...

subducts Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second pla ...

beneath the

South American plate The South American plate is a major tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America as well as a sizable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the African plate, with which it forms the southern part of the Mid ...

at a rate of /yr, this process could be seen throughout the entire west coast of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The interface where both plates make contact occasionally produce moderate to great earthquakes. During the May 1940 earthquake, it is thought that a × segment of the megathrust ruptured, with an average displacement of . A maximum uplift of , and subsidence of was estimated. The rupture area is wedged between that of the

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

earthquake.

Damage

In Lima, the devastation was great, 32 people were killed in this city alone, while in

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...

, the death toll was at 58. The Lima Cathedral was badly damaged, together with several thousand buildings. At Bellavista, there were 11 deaths, ten of them were children when the school they were in collapsed, and in San Miguel, two people died. Damage from the earthquake was estimated at 3.6 million Peruvian sols. The shaking was assigned a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (''Severe''). It was also felt in Guayaquil, Eduador and Arica, Chile. The destruction in Lima, Callao, Chorrillos, Barranco, Chancay and Lurín were also worsened by their poor condition and age. Some modern buildings also had damage which were attributed to the soil type they were constructed on. The Port of Callao, situated on water-logged sandy terrain was heavily damaged. Structures built on alluvial and river deposits were also affected. In Chancay, damage was comparable to Lima; two churches toppled and some dilapidated quincha buildings suffered from collapsed walls.

References

External links

LIMA EARTHQUAKE – NO SOUND
from AP Archives
Earthquake In Peru (1940)
from British Pathé {{Earthquakes in Peru 1940 earthquakes Earthquakes in Peru Megathrust earthquakes in Peru 1940 in Peru 1940 in South America May 1940 in South America 1940 disasters in Peru

Earthquake

Damage

See also

References

External links