Strong Earthquake Strikes Chile

March 9, 2010  
Filed under News

On the morning of Feb. 27, another earthquake rocked the foundation of the world. It struck the country of Chile, in the region of Maule, with extreme force.

Earlier last month, a devastating earthquake destroyed the poor country of Haiti. It had strength around 7.0 magnitude.  About 200,000 Haitians were killed by collapsing buildings and dangerous conditions.

However, the recent quake in Chile was about 500 times stronger, recorded at 8.8- magnitude. Although it was stronger, less people have been killed. The death count is currently around 700 people if not more. There have been 45 aftershocks, some being as strong as 6.0. There have also been many warnings for tsunamis for Chile, Hawaii, California and many other places.

Richard Gross, a scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said that the Earth’s day has been shortened by 1.26 microseconds because of the strength of the shifting plates beneath Chile. A microsecond is equivalent to one millionth of a second. The combination of the mammoth seismic activity that occurred in Haiti and Chile most likely caused the Earth to stand still for a minuscule amount of time.  According to Gross, the Earth also tilted 3 inches on its axis.

The people in Chile have been braking into stores and scrounging around for food. The Chili government ordered 10,000 soldiers to the devastated areas to stop the looting and destructive behavior. Tear gas has even been put to use in order to control the rowdy crowds of homeless people.

Aide has been arriving in Chile as it is still arriving in Haiti.

“I think everyone could chip in. We should always do what we can to help out the devastated countries. If we help out those countries, then when something bad happens to us, they will help us,” sophomore Mercedes Silvey said.

There are many other faults in the world that are raising concerns. In the United States, there are several large fault lines including near Seattle, and also near Missouri and Kansas. If these faults were to shift like in Chile and Haiti, massive damage would be the result.

“I think we should be prepared for everything. The countries that were hit by an earthquake weren’t prepared. We should have money put back just in case so if no help comes to us we can help ourselves,” Silvey said.

Strongest Earthquakes Prior to the Feb. 27 Quake in Chile
(Information from mongabay.com)

-May 22, 1960: Magnitude 9.5 earthquake in southern Chile;
-March 27, 1964: Magnitude 9.2 quake in Prince William Sound, Alaska
-Dec. 26, 2004: Magnitude 9.1 quake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra
-Aug. 13, 1868: Magnitude 9.0 quake in Arica, Peru (now Chile)
-Nov. 4, 1952: Magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Kamchatka, USSR
-Jan. 26, 1700: Magnitude 9.0 earthquake in the British Columbia
-Nov. 25, 1833: Magnitude 9.0 quake near Sumatra, Indonesia
-Feb. 27, 2010: Magnitude 8.8 in Maule, Chile.
-Jan. 31, 1906: Magnitude 8.8 off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia
-Nov. 1, 1755: Magnitude 8.7 quake in Lisbon, Portugal
-Feb 4, 1965: Magnitude 8.7 quake in the Rat Islands, Alaska
-Jul. 8, 1730: Magnitude 8.7 quake in Valparasio, Chile,
-Mar. 28, 2005: Magnitude 8.7 quake off northern Sumatra Island in Indonesia.

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Kali Hinman

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