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The 1985 Rapel Lake earthquake occurred on 8 April at with a
moment magnitude The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...
of 7.5 and a maximum perceived intensity of VI (''Strong''). The shock was centered southwest of
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
,
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 ...
, with a focal depth of .


Earthquake

The 9 April 1985 earthquake occurred in the same fault area as the
2010 Pichilemu earthquake The 2010 Pichilemu earthquakes ( es, link=no, Terremoto de Pichilemu de 2010), also known as the Libertador O'Higgins earthquakes, were a pair of intraplate earthquakes measuring 6.9 and 7.0 that struck Chile's O'Higgins Region on 11 March 201 ...
, and is considered by
University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.
Seismological Service a
thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. If ...
-type
interplate earthquake An interplate earthquake is an earthquake that occurs at the boundary between two tectonic plates. Earthquakes of this type account for more than 90 percent of the total seismic energy released around the world. If one plate is trying to move past ...
. The earthquake, measured in the
Modified Mercalli intensity The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
, reached magnitude VI in
Curacaví Curacaví () is a city and commune in the Melipilla Province of central Chile's Santiago Metropolitan Region. Its climate is temperate Mediterranean with a long dry season, experiencing high temperatures in summer and low temperatures in winter. C ...
, La Calera, Los Andes, Peñaflor,
San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...
,
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
Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city w ...
; and magnitude V–VI in
Concón Concón is a Chilean city and commune in Valparaíso Province, Valparaíso Region. It is a major tourist center known for its beaches, ''balnearios'' (beachside resorts) and night life. Geography The commune of Concón spans an area of . It is ...
, Constitución,
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 Colcha ...
,
La Ligua La Ligua () is a Chilean city and commune, capital of the Petorca Province in Valparaíso Region. The city is known for its textile manufacturing and traditional Chilean pastry production. Demographics According to data from the 2002 Census of ...
,
Melipilla Melipilla (Mapudungun for "four Pillans") is a Chilean commune and capital city of the province of the same name, located in the Santiago Metropolitan Region southwest of the nation's capital. The commune spans an area of . Demographics Accord ...
,
Papudo Papudo is a Chilean commune located in the Petorca Province, Valparaíso Region. Most of its permanent residents live in the small town of the same name, whereas primarily new development for the affluent population of Santiago concentrates in th ...
,
Pichilemu Pichilemu (, ), originally known as Pichilemo, is a beach resort city and commune in central Chile, and capital of Cardenal Caro Province in the O'Higgins Region. The commune comprises an urban centre and twenty-two villages, including Ciruelo ...
,
Puchuncaví Puchuncaví is a town and commune in the Valparaíso Province of central Chile's fifth region of Valparaíso. It spans a coastal area of . History The history of Puchuncaví and its surroundings goes back over 500 years, being one of the oldest ...
,
Quilpué Quilpué is a city and capital of the Marga Marga Province in central Chile's Valparaíso Region. It is part of the Greater Valparaíso metropolitan area. It is widely known as "City of the Sun" (''Ciudad del Sol'') and the urban part of it also ...
, and
Villa Alemana Villa Alemana ("German Village" in English) is a city and commune in Chile's Zona Central. It was founded in 1896 by Italian and German immigrants. Villa Alemana is a part of the urban area known as Greater Valparaiso. Villa Alemana's flag is n ...
. The earthquake was felt throughout much of central Chile from La Serena to Osorno. It was also felt in Mendoza,
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
, San Luis, Córdoba, Tucumán, and Santa Fe
provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
in Argentina. According to national radio networks, the tremors "were felt along a 1,000-mile stretch of Chile from Copiapó in the north to Valdivia in the south and across the Andes mountains in Argentina". Although it has been considered by the news media as an aftershock of the 3 March 1985 earthquake, according to Rosa Urrutia de Hazbún and Carlos Lanza Lazcano's book ''Catástrofes en Chile 1541–1992'', this earthquake was a different and separate event. Mario Pardo, the director of the Chilean Seismological Service, told international press in April 1985 that it was "apparently an aftershock from the 3 March earthquake that killed 177 in central Chile" and that "the quake was centered in the ocean off the coast near Pichilemu, a city 100 miles southwest of Santiago". According to national radio networks, the tremors "were felt along a 1,000-mile stretch of Chile from Copiapó in the north to Valdivia in the south and across the Andes Mountaines in Argentina".


Damage and effects

Two people died of heart attacks after the earthquake; one in Santiago and another in
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 ...
. The earthquake lasted approximately three minutes according to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. It created damage in addition to that already caused by 3 March earthquake in the Santiago-Valparaíso area. Hundreds of people panicked into the streets, while radio stations reported some brief power blackouts. In
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 ...
, the roof of a house collapsed, while other houses fell down in
Curacaví Curacaví () is a city and commune in the Melipilla Province of central Chile's Santiago Metropolitan Region. Its climate is temperate Mediterranean with a long dry season, experiencing high temperatures in summer and low temperatures in winter. C ...
. No injuries were reported.


Previous events

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake was registered on 3 March 1985 offshore
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 ...
,
Valparaíso Region The Valparaíso Region ( es, Región de Valparaíso, links=no, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , ...
. It reached a maximum intensity of IX on the
Mercalli intensity scale The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
. 177 people were killed, 2,575 injured, 142,489 houses were damaged and about a million people were left homeless. There was a long interruption on basic services, and the damage provoked by that earthquake was estimated to be more than 1,046 million US dollars.


See also

*
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 ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rapel Lake earthquake, 1985 1985 Rapel 1985 earthquakes 1985 in Chile Earthquake, 1985 1985 Rapel Lake earthquake 1985 Rapel Lake earthquake April 1985 events in South America