According to a paper published in the latest issue of Science Advances, researchers at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom found that the largest earthquake in history hit northern Chile 3,800 years ago and caused a huge tsunami that hit New Zealand more than 5,000 miles away. It is reported that the magnitude of this earthquake is about 9.5, which is the same size as the largest earthquake recorded in history.
The largest earthquake in history hit northern Chile 3,800 years ago and caused a massive tsunami that hit New Zealand more than 5,000 miles away.
From the 2005 Kashmir earthquake to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, several earthquakes have caused enormous damage on the planet in recent years. But, according to a new study, these earthquakes appear insignificant compared to a massive earthquake that struck northern Chile 3,800 years ago.
Researchers at the University of Southampton said the quake was about 9.5 magnitude, the same magnitude as the largest earthquake recorded in history, and caused a huge tsunami that flowed more than 5,000 miles and hit the Coast of New Zealand.
Earthquakes occur when two tectonic plates rub against each other and break, and longer ruptures lead to larger earthquakes.
Earthquakes occur when two tectonic plates rub against each other and break, and longer ruptures lead to larger earthquakes.
Prior to that, the largest known rupture in history occurred in southern Chile in 1960.
One of the paper's authors, Professor James Gove, said the researchers had found evidence of a rupture about 1,000 kilometers long in northern Chile, just off the coast of the Atacama Desert, a huge fault.
Although the coast of the Atacama Desert is one of the driest environments in the world, researchers have found evidence of marine sediments and organisms that lived in the sea before being thrown inland.
Although it is home to one of the driest environments in the world, researchers have found evidence of marine sediments and organisms that lived in the sea before being thrown inland.
Professor Gove said all these things were very high and far inland, so it couldn't have been a storm that put them there.
Instead, the team believes that these marine sediments may be the result of massive tsunamis generated by huge faults.
Excavations of archaeological sites on the coastline, including in the Pabellón de Pica, have also uncovered stone buildings destroyed by the waves, many of which collapsed into the sea, possibly as a result of strong currents.
Professor Gove said the residents there had become dispossessed. As communities moved inland beyond the tsunami's affected areas, enormous social unrest ensued. People don't get back to coastal life until more than 1,000 years later, which is an astonishing length of time considering they rely on the ocean for food.
Coincidentally, before the study began, Professor Gough had been investigating a site on New Zealand's Chatham Island.
Professor Gove discovered that the tsunami had thrown boulders hundreds of metres inland into New Zealand.
There, he found several megaliths the size of cars dating back about 3,800 years, the same time period as the tsunami, where they were thrown hundreds of meters inland.
He said the boulders could only be moved by a tsunami from northern Chile and would require a magnitude-like earthquake of magnitude 9.5 to produce.
Professor Gove said that while this had a significant impact on people in Chile, the South Pacific islands were uninhabited when they were hit by tsunamis 3800 years ago.
The team hopes their findings will help us prepare for the next megaquake.
Text/Nandu reporter Chen Lin