2005 Tarapacá earthquake

2005 Tarapacá earthquake
The damaged church of San Lorenzo de Tarapacá after the earthquake
2005 Tarapacá earthquake is located in South America
2005 Tarapacá earthquake
Location within South America
UTC time
  • 2005-06-13 22:44:33
ISC event
USGS-ANSS
Local date
  • June 13, 2005 (2005-06-13)
Local time
Magnitude
Depth
  • 115.6 km (71.8 mi)
Epicenter19°59′13″S 69°11′49″W / 19.987°S 69.197°W / -19.987; -69.197
Areas affectedChile, Bolivia, Peru
Total damageUS$40 million (equivalent to $65.9 million in 2025)
Max. intensityMMI IX–X
Peak acceleration0.792 g
LandslidesYes
Aftershocksc.2,000 (by July 2005)
Casualties11 dead, 200 injured

On June 13, 2005, at 22:44:33 CLT, a Mw 7.8 earthquake struck near Mamiña, in northern Chile about 125 km east-northeast of Iquique, affecting the Tarapacá and Arica y Parinacota Regions, as well as adjacent parts of Bolivia and Peru. It had a maximum felt intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake killed at least 11 people, injured 200 others and damaged or destroyed over 9,300 houses. The towns of Huara and Tarapacá were almost completely destroyed, and other towns in the epicentral were largely heavily damaged.

Tectonic setting

Chile lies above the destructive plate boundary, where the Nazca Plate is being subducted beneath the South American Plate. In the Tarapacá region the plates converge at a rate of 78 mm per year. This boundary is associated with many large earthquakes, both along the plate interface and within the subducting slab (Nazca Plate).[1]

Earthquake

The earthquake was an intermediate-depth event, with a hypocentral depth of 115.6 km (71.8 mi). The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.8,[1] while the National Seismological Center of the University of Chile put the magnitude at 7.9 on the Richter magnitude scale (ML).[2] Its epicenter was located in the commune of Pozo Almonte in Tamarugal Province, Tarapacá Region, 10 km (6.2 mi) east-northeast of Mamiña and 102 km (63 mi) east-northeast of Iquique. The focal mechanism corresponded to normal faulting, with a rupture on either a steep-dipping, north-striking fault or on a shallow-dipping, south-striking fault. Of these two possible fault orientations, finite-fault modeling of globally recorded seismic data is more consistent with slip on the south-striking fault. A rupture area of 110 km (68 mi) x 70 km (43 mi) was estimated, extending from Chiapa in the north to Pica in the south, with a maximum slip of 7.528 m (24.70 ft) at the epicenter. The observed source time function gives a 120 second duration for the earthquake, with the greatest phase of seismic moment release occurring about 40 seconds after initiation.[1] Approximately 2,000 aftershocks were detected within a month of the earthquake.[3]

On the Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MMI), a maximum intensity of IX–X (Violent–Extreme) was estimated in the towns of Huara, Tarapacá and Pachica,[4] while in Bolivia, a maximum intensity of MMI VIII (Severe) was felt in the Salar de Uyuni salt flat. The MMI also reached VI–VII (Strong–Very strong) in Iquique, Calama and Tocopilla, V (Moderate) in Arica,[1] and IV–V (Light–Moderate) in Arequipa and Tacna, Peru.[5] A maximum peak ground acceleration (pga) of 0.792 g was recorded at Pica.[6]

Impact

The earthquake killed 11 people, including a family of six who where killed after a boulder struck their vehicle near Iquique,[1] three in Huara and two in Pozo Almonte.[5] In addition, more than 200 others were injured, 550 homes were destroyed and 8,800 more were damaged in northern Chile.[7] Parts of southern Peru and western Bolivia were also affected. Adobe houses throughout the Andes were particularly affected, with more than 80% destroyed in some villages.[8] The towns of Huara and Tarapacá were the worst-affected, with almost all homes destroyed.[3] Economic losses amounted to US$40 million.[4] Despite Chile's abundance of earthquake-resistant structures, many homes in the epicentral region were constructed with lower-quality materials, such as adobe and unreinforced masonry, with led to many of them collapsing completely.[4] Landslides were also widespread, primarily near the epicenter and coastal areas.[5]

Almost all churches were damaged in areas exposed to strong shaking, even in communities that remained otherwise largely unscathed by the earthquake.[4] Partial or complete structural collapses occurred at churches in Huara, Iquique, Pozo Almonte, Camiña, Moquella, Chiapa, Sibaya, Mocha, Pachica.[9] The earthquake left 30 electric substations out of service, which cut off water supply to the epicentral area. Transportation infrastructure in the region was also severely damaged, primarily due to landslides throughout the Tarapacá Region, including a few blocking sections of the Pan-American Highway.[5] In Iquique, the breakwater at the city's port was severely damaged, while damage elsewhere in the city was relatively minor, although some houses and shopfronts collapsed.[3] The Chilean Red Cross building received minor infrastructural damage and loss of equipment.[8]

In southern Peru, approximately 30 homes were damaged and adobe walls collapsed in the department of Tacna. A large landslide blocked a highway connecting Tacna to Palca District, with rockfalls blocking other roads in the area. The department of Moquegua recorded minor damage to buildings and a few rockfalls blocking roads along the Ilo-Desaguadero highway and tunnels along the Pan-American Highway.[5]

Aftermath

Initial efforts concentrated on repairing infrastructure affected by the earthquake. By June 2006 the government reported that most of the repairs to roads and irrigation canals were complete, but that, although work had started on repairing houses and schools.[10] The effects of this earthquake on pregnant women were used to investigate the effects of acute stress on child development. The results showed that amongst poorer families, children affected by the earthquake in utero were at least six months behind in cognitive development seven years later compared to their peers in a control group in areas unaffected by the earthquake.[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 ANSS. "M 7.8 - 102 km ENE of Iquique, Chile 2005". Comprehensive Catalog. U.S. Geological Survey.
  2. ↑ "Informe de Sismo". Centro Sismológico Nacional. 13 June 2005. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "Terremoto Tarapacá". Ministerio de Educación (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 July 2005.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Intensities and Damage Distribution in the June 2005 Tarapacá, Chile, Earthquake (PDF). Learning from Earthquakes (Report). Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. November 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Rondinel-Oviedo, E.A. "The June 13th, 2005, Mw 7.8 Tarapacá (Chile) Earthquake" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  6. ↑ "Registros Terremoto de Tarapacá 7.9 Mw, 13/06/2005". terremotos.ing.uchile.cl (in Spanish).
  7. ↑ United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (August 2005). "Natural Disaster Highlights No.2 - August 2005" (PDF). p. 5. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  8. 1 2 International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies (27 July 2005). "Chile: Earthquake - Information Bulletin n° 3". Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  9. ↑ Daños causados por el terremoto del 13 de Junio de 2005 - En las iglesias de la Región de Tarapacá (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  10. ↑ Government of Chile (June 2006). "Chile: Presidenta anuncia medidas para acelerar Plan de Reconstrucción de Tarapacá". ReliefWeb (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  11. ↑ De Witte M. (August 2018). "Acute stress in utero has negative effects later in life among poor children, Stanford sociologist finds". Retrieved 27 August 2018.
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