The 1960 Concepción earthquakes were a succession of three destructive

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

s that happened between 21 and 22 May 1960. They formed part of the

foreshock A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic eventthe mainshockand is related to it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake as ''foreshock'', ''mainshock'' or aftershock is only possible after the full sequenc ...

sequence for the

1960 Valdivia earthquake The 1960 Valdivia earthquake and tsunami () or the Great Chilean earthquake (''Gran terremoto de Chile'') occurred on 22 May 1960. Most studies have placed it at 9.5–9.6 on the moment magnitude scale, while some studies have placed the magnitu ...

, the largest recorded earthquake in history. The first was on May 21 at 06:02 UTC-4.Servicio Sismológico Universidad de Chile
Sismos importantes o destructivos desde 1570
Its

epicenter The epicenter (), epicentre, or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Determination The primary purpose of a ...

was near Cañete, Bío Bío Region,

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 ...

, and its magnitude was 8.1 or 8.3 M_W and 7.3 or 7.5 M_S. This earthquake, which lasted 35 seconds, destroyed a third of the buildings in the city of Concepción. The earthquake effectively interrupted and ended Lota's coal miners march on Concepción where they demanded higher salaries. The second happened on May 22 at 06:30 UTC-4. Its epicenter was in the Nahuelbuta National Park,

Araucanía Region The Araucanía ( ), La Araucanía Region ( ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions, and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south. Its capital and largest city is Temuco; other important cities ...

, and its magnitude was 7.1 M_w. It was followed by a 6.8 M_w earthquake at 06:32 UTC-4. The third happened the same day at 14:56 UTC-4. Its epicenter was near

Purén Purén is a List of cities in Chile, city (2002 pop. 12,868) and Communes of Chile, commune in Malleco Province of La Araucanía Region, Chile. It is located in the west base of the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta (650 km. south of Santiago). The ec ...

and its magnitude was 7.8 M_S or 7.8 M_w. This earthquake happened 15 minutes before the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1960 Concepcion earthquake Concepcion earthquake Concepcion earthquake History of Biobío Region Concepción, Chile May 1960 in South America Presidency of Jorge Alessandri

See also

References

External links