The 1996 Nazca earthquake occurred on November 12 at 16:59 UTC (11:59 local time). The earthquake was located offshore near
Nazca
Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; possibly from ) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. The city of Nazca is the largest in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in the area be ...
,
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
. It has a magnitude of 7.7. Fourteen people were reported dead. Four-thousand houses collapsed and 11,000 were partially damaged. Nazca and
Acarí were the most affected cities. Liquefaction was observed in the bed of the Yauca River. The intensity was VIII (''Severe'') in Nazca. A tsunami was triggered by this earthquake. The recorded peak-to-trough heights of the tsunami were 25 cm 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 ...
, Peru and 35 cm in
Arica
Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the ca ...
,
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 ...
.
In this area, 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– ...
is subducting 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 ...
. This earthquake occurred at the plate interface and is associated with the subduction of the 1.5 km high
Nazca Ridge
The Nazca Ridge is a submarine ridge, located on the Nazca plate off the west coast of South America. This plate and ridge are currently subducting under the South American plate at a convergent boundary known as the Peru-Chile Trench at approxi ...
beneath the South American plate. This was a complex event, and there were at least two larger events occurring between 18 and 30 seconds after the onset. This earthquake may have ruptured part of the rupture zone of the
earthquake of August 24, 1942.
See also
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List of earthquakes in 1996
This is a list of earthquakes in 1996. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they result in damage or casualties, or are notable for some other reason. All dates are listed according to UTC time.
By death toll
By magni ...
*
List of earthquakes in Peru
Earthquakes in Peru are common occurrences as the country is located in a seismic zone. The interface between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates is located near the Peruvian coast. The South American plate is moving over the Nazca plate ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Earthquakes in 1996
Nazca
Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; possibly from ) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. The city of Nazca is the largest in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in the area be ...
Earthquakes in Peru
Nazca
Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; possibly from ) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. The city of Nazca is the largest in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in the area be ...
1996 in Peru
1996 disasters in Peru