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 the ...
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 explo ...
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 north ...
. 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 us ...
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.
See also
*
List of historical earthquakes
Historical earthquakes is a list of significant earthquakes known to have occurred prior to the beginning of the 20th century. As the events listed here occurred before routine Seismometer, instrumental recordings, they rely mainly on the analys ...
*
List of earthquakes in Chile __NOTOC__
Chile lay 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 world's 46 known earthquakes with M ≥ 8.5 since the year 1 ...
*
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
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