The 1751 Concepción earthquake was one of the strongest and most destructive recorded quakes in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an history. It struck the Central Valley of the country, destroying the cities of Concepción,

Chillán Chillán () is the capital city of the Ñuble Region in the Diguillín Province of Chile located about south of the country's capital, Santiago, near the geographical center of the country. It is the capital of the new Ñuble Region since 6 Sept ...

Cauquenes Cauquenes, a city and commune in Chile, is the capital of the Cauquenes Province and is located in the Maule Region. History According to the historical records of Alonso de Ercilla, Cauquenes was originally inhabited by an indigenous community o ...

Curicó Curicó (), meaning "Black Waters" in Mapudungun (originally meaning "Land of Black Water"), is the capital city of the Curicó Province, part of the Maule Region in Chile's central valley. The province lies between the provinces of Colchagu ...

and

Talca Talca () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in Chile located about south of Santiago, Chile, Santiago, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile). As of the 2012 census, the ...

,Crónica de la Araucania: Descubrimiento i conquista, pacificación definitiva, Horacio LaraHistoria General de Chile, Diego Barros Arana probably on May 24, 1751, although there is currently a debate among scholars as to the exact date of the earthquake (see also " Other dates").

Background

The city of Concepción had already been hit by several earthquakes. On this occasion the city was still in the process of recovering from the earthquake and

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 ...

that completely destroyed the city in 1730. Hours before the earthquake, on the night of May 23, there were several

tremor A tremor is an involuntary, somewhat rhythmic, muscle contraction and relaxation involving oscillations or twitching movements of one or more body parts. It is the most common of all involuntary movements and can affect the hands, arms, eyes, fa ...

s. This had caused some Concepción residents, accustomed to earthquakes, to prepare for the worst.

Development

The disaster was composed of two parts: the earthquake itself, and a series of tsunamis some 10 to 40 minutes later.

Earthquake

The earthquake began around one o'clock in the morning. According to one chronicle of a resident of

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

and another of a resident of Concepción, the quake lasted about six minutes, although in Valparaíso there was no major damage recorded. During the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami, all of the buildings in the city of Concepción were destroyed. The records indicate that the earthquake was so intense that "the residents could not remain standing." The earthquake was felt in the rest of the

Chilean Central Valley The Central Valley ( es, Valle Central), Intermediate Depression, or Longitudinal Valley is the depression between the Chilean Coastal Range and the Andes Mountains. The Chilean Central Valley extends from the border with Peru to Puerto Montt in ...

, but with less intensity. One of the most affected cities near Concepción was

, where the entire city was destroyed and the river changed its course, ending up nearly 15 blocks from its original location. In Santiago, the tower of the cathedral was destroyed by the tremor, although no other major damage was reported in the rest of the city.

Tsunami

Between 1:05 and 1:45, the sea receded more than 1 km, and then three to five tsunami waves struck land. The height and force of each wave increased, and the last was the most disastrous. Swells were observed as far away as the port of

El Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and 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 of the whole Call ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. The tsunami also destroyed the new settlement at the

Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands ( es, Archipiélago Juan Fernández) 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 i ...

, where 35 people died, including the first governor, Navarro Santaella, and his wife.

Consequences

The major consequence of the earthquake was the relocation of the city (14 years after the quake) from its original location, in part as a response by the residents to the successive destructions by the tsunamis of 1730 and 1751. The chosen location (after a long controversy between the civil authorities and the church, headed by Bishop José de Toro y Zambrano Romo) was the

Valle de la Mocha Valle de la Mocha ("the Valley of Mocha") is a plain in Chile on the north shore of the Bio-Bio River that contained the '' reducción'' of Mapuche who were transported in 1685, from Mocha Island by Governor José de Garro; from which the valley ...

, where Concepción presently lies. Despite this, the demonym "''penquista''" (referring to the original location of the city, at

Penco Penco ( Mapudungun: See (''Pen''), Water (''Ko'')), is a Chilean city and commune in Concepción Province, Bío Bío Region on the Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo ('beginning of the new extreme') on Febr ...

) was kept, and is still used today.

Aftershocks

The earthquake had enough aftershocks that they destroyed any attempts at rebuilding, including the emergency shelters. One of the strongest occurred on June 26, 1751. Approximately half a month later, the aftershocks ceased.

Other dates

Although the majority of sources and accounts make reference to the early morning of May 25, 1751, as the date of the earthquake, other records indicate that it was on the night of May 24. And although the majority of historians say that the foreshocks of the earthquake occurred on the night of May 23, there exist records that indicate that they happened during the 23rd and 24th, with the earthquake happening on the 25th.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Concepcion 1751 1751 Concepcion 1751 tsunamis 1751 earthquakes Concepción, Chile