The Largest Earthquake in the World

The largest quake in the world had a magnitude of 9. 5 and took place in Chile. The Valdivia Earthquake, excessively know as the Great Chilean Earthquake, happened on Sunday, May 22, 1960. It is the largest temblor currently on record. It occured in the laternoon and the resulting tsunami affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, easterly New Zealand, southeast Australia, and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The epicenter of the Valdivia earthquake was set about Lumaco, a coastal city with a existence of roughly 11,405.Various directs of the bring consider of fatalities from the earthquake and tsunamis have been published, with the USGS citing studies with figures of 2,231 3,000 or 5,700 killed, and other source uses an estimate of 6,000 dead. An estimated cost of 2. 9 to 5. 8 billion in damage. The 1960 Valdivia earthquake was very just a series of many strong earthquakes from May 21 to June 6,1960. The first was the Concepcion earthquake and the stronges t was the Valdivia earthquake. The first Concepcion earthquake was on May 21,1960.Its epicenter was near Curanilahue. The second and third Concepcion earthquakes occurred a few hours apart from each(prenominal) other on May 22. The Valdivia earthquake occurred on May 22. This earthquake affected all of Chile between Talca and Chiloe Island, more than 150,000 sq mi. Most coastal villages disappeared. At Corral, the main port of Valdivia, the water supply level rose 13 ft before it began to recede. A wave of 26 ft struck the Chilean coast, mainly between Concepcion and Chiloe. Ten minutes later another wave measuring 33 ft was inform.Hundreds of people were already reported dead by the time the tsunami struck. One ship, Canelos, starting at the let loose of Valdivia River sank after being moved 0. 93 mi backward and previous in the river its mast is still visible today. A number of Spanish-colonial forts were completely destroyed. priming coat subsidence also destroyed building s, deepened local rivers, and created wetlands in places like the Rio Cruces and Chorocomayo, a new aquatic park north of the city. Extensive areas of the city were flooded.The electrical energy and water systems of Valdivia were totally destroyed. Witnesses reported underground water flowing up through the soil. Despite the heavy rains of May 21, the city was without a water supply. The river turned brown with sediment from landslides and was full of floating debris, including entire houses. The earthquake did not strike all the territory with the same strength. The two or so affected areas were Valdivia and Puerto Octay near the northwest corner Llanquihue Lake.East of Puerto Octay in a hotel in Todos los Santos Lake piles of plates were reported to have remained in place. Two days after the earthquake a volcanic vent erupted. Other volcanoes may also have erupted, but none were recorded due to the lack of confabulation in Chile at the time. The relatively low death monetary va lue in Chile, estimated at 6,000, is explained in part by the low population density and by buildings being built taking into account that the voice has many earthquakes and volcano eruptions.Other possible reasons include a high number of wooden houses and that coastal towns also tended to be located on high ground. After the eruption, began the landslides. The earthquake triggered many landslides, mostly near the Andes. These landslides did not arrive at many fatalities nor significant economical losses because most of the areas were uninhabited with yet minor roads. One landslide did cause destruction and alarm spare-time activity its blockage of the outflow of Rinihue Lake.About 100 km south of Rinihue Lake, landslides in the mountains nigh Golgol River caused this river to dam up and then burst creating a flood rarify to Puyehue Lake. The Valdivia earthquake led to the formation of the ONEMI. ONEMI is the Spanish acronym for National Emergency and development Office. ON EMI helps solve problems after earthquakes, large or small. The Valvidia earthquake was also referenced in two fictional novels, and the tsunami following the earthquake was referenced in a Hawaii Five-O episode titled Forty Feet High and it Kills .