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 and Chile. An estimated 179 to 300 people died while 3,500 left injured by the earthquake. The earthquake was centered near the coastal cities of Huacho and Huaura, about north of the Peruvian capital, Lima. There was a tsunami 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 The Peru–Chile Trench, also known as the Atacama Trench, is an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about off the coast of Peru and Chile. It reaches a maximum depth of below sea level in Richards Deep () and is approximately long; ...

. Here, the

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

subducts Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

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-A ...

at a rate of /yr, this process could be seen throughout the entire west coast of South America. 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; f ...

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 o ...

, the death toll was at 58. The

Lima Cathedral The Basilica Metropolitan Cathedral of Lima and Primate of Peru, otherwise Lima Metropolitan Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the Plaza Mayor of downtown Lima, Peru. This third and current Cathedral of Lima was built between 1 ...

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 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 ...

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 Quincha is a traditional construction system that uses, fundamentally, wood and cane or giant reed forming an earthquake-proof framework that is covered in mud and plaster. History Quincha is a Spanish term widely known in Latin America, borrow ...

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 events in South America 1940 disasters in Peru

Earthquake

Damage

See also

References

External links