Earthquake hits Chile 8.8 on the Richter Scale

[Thrizzl3]

what's with all the earthquakes all of a sudden..?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/27/chile.quake/index.html?hpt=T1

[leojadazol]

holy.............

[aris]

Edit: mistake i made

[STeeLy]

How does being near the equator have anything to do with having earthquakes?

I'm not saying it's not true, I've just never heard it before, even in my seismology class.

[laksman91]

How does being near the equator have anything to do with having earthquakes?

I'm not saying it's not true, I've just never heard it before, even in my seismology class.

+ 1,

Isn't it based on seismic plates/ tectonic plates...

[CoolColombian]

+2. It has nothing to do with the equator line, take San Francisco for instance, its no where near the equator and have some of the biggest seismic activity in north america, its all about the geologic faults.

[MistaChin]

Look at where Chile is with regard to the plates:

http://www.rain.org/homeschool/science/images/plates-of-the-world.gif

Has absolutely nothing to do with the equator! At least research your false information before giving it out.

[mazdilla]

Earth quakes happen all the time in those parts...their close to the equator

No offense, Aris, but you're geographically impaired.

Just like my wife: "Left, left, go left, NO, NO, NO! Your other left!"


As for the earthquake in Chile:

The equator has nothing to do with it; it's the tectonic activity associated with the numerous moving tectonic plates that compose the Earth's hard surface. There are 17 to 26 plates, depending on the scientific community's flavour of the day. There are both oceanic and continental crusts. The oceanic crust is approximately 6 to 8 kms thick and is composed of very dense basalt. The continental crust is up to 70 kms thick and is a much lighter silicon based rock. The plates are drifting or pushed in different directions by the convection currents of molten magma within the Earth’s mantle beneath.

Where the plates meet is named a 'zone of convergence'. The lighter continental crust slides over the denser basalt, but not without consequence. Enormous friction is created, and the plates 'stick' at the convergence zone. The lighter continental crust crumples and forms mountains at the leading edge (e.g. The Rockies, Andes). The ocean plates sinks under the continental plate forming a 'subduction zone', but not before staying stuck together for tens or even hundreds of years. Eventually, the two stuck plates unbuckle or 'spring' loose, similar to pushing two erasers together until they suddenly release.

In the case of Chile, which is along for the ride along with the rest of South America in a westerly direction, it is moving in the opposite direction of the ocean crust, which is moving in an easterly direction. The subduction zone has created one of the deepest ocean troughs on the planet along the west coast of SA, and the crumpling of the continental crust (SA) has created the Andes, some of the highest mountains in the world. In this case, when the plates suddenly released, it was not two small erasers, but a section(s) of the Earth's crust the size of Nova Scotia suddenly moving 1" or more in a split second.

According to the Richter scale, an outdated method which measures the magnitude of siesmic energy released by an earthquake at the epicenter (surface), or the focus (deep within the Earth), if it actually was an earthquake of 8.8 magnitude, that would be 8 times stronger than the one that affected Haiti, which had a magnitude of 8. However, any earthquake that registers larger than 6.8 magnitude on the Richter scale becomes saturated with both the P (percussion) and S (seismic) waves that are released, and is therefore somewhat ambiguous in its readings. The scale is still used for 'informational' purposes, but not scientific purposes, because it's easy to understand by the general public.

So, in layman's terms, let's just say that any quake over 6 shakes the living sh*t outta ya!

That is Seismology 101.

[optiklenz13]

http://j.mp/b9Z5RB - praying for those affected in this tragedy. These photos are heart breaking

[Fobio]

the way I see it, is when one part of the earth or one of the tectonic plates move (ie. the one Haiti was over), it'll cause other plates to move as well...

it's like those sleeping walrus colonies on the beach...when one fat walrus shifts in their sleep, the whole colony shifts a little to get comfortable again...

hope there's no wide spread devastation as in Haiti...

[optiklenz13]

http://j.mp/a7iRDc - some powerful pictures here.

[optiklenz13]

ooppss!! my bad, i've been posting these from twitter and I don't think the links will work here.

[shu5892001]

Earth quakes happen all the time in those parts...their close to the equator
:loco

[PCLoadLetter]

ooppss!! my bad, i've been posting these from twitter and I don't think the links will work here.
Got your back
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-100227-chile-earthquake-pictures,0,5389265.photogallery?index=chi-12chile-20100227075745]

I hate hearing about these natural disasters. We are certainly lucky of where we live.

[optiklenz13]

Got your back
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-100227-chile-earthquake-pictures,0,5389265.photogallery?index=chi-12chile-20100227075745]

I hate hearing about these natural disasters. We are certainly lucky of where we live.

Thanks mate.

[AskClaudio.com]

All my family is back in Chile and heard this morning everyone is safe and accounted for just very little damaged to their homes. Santiago and other cities are a mess a lot are with no electricity and with out running water. My cousin in Santiago says there are mass robberies happening, people breaking into grocery stores, and electronic stores taking anything and everything in site. I have an uncle that lives in Chiloe about 14-16 hr drive south from Santiago, he said he felt the quake last night and lasted for around 4 minutes, it was measured around 4.5.

[shu5892001]

All my family is back in Chile and heard this morning everyone is safe and accounted for just very little damaged to their homes. Santiago and other city are a mess a lot are with no electricity and with out running water. My cousin in Santiago says there are mass robberies happening, people breaking into grocery stores, and electronic stores taking anything and everything in site. I have an uncle that lives in Chiloe about 14-16 hr drive south from Santiago, he said he felt the quake last night and lasted for around 4 minutes, it was measured around 4.5.

glad to here everyone in your family is okay

[aris]

How does being near the equator have anything to do with having earthquakes?

I'm not saying it's not true, I've just never heard it before, even in my seismology class.

That is my bad..i deleted my coment..i honestly thought that's what caused earthquakes


No offense, Aris, but you're geographically impaired.

Just like my wife: "Left, left, go left, NO, NO, NO! Your other left!".


:loco

As for the two of uses it was an honest mistake..no need to be jerks!!


All my family is back in Chile and heard this morning everyone is safe and accounted for just very little damaged to their homes. Santiago and other cities are a mess a lot are with no electricity and with out running water. My cousin in Santiago says there are mass robberies happening, people breaking into grocery stores, and electronic stores taking anything and everything in site. I have an uncle that lives in Chiloe about 14-16 hr drive south from Santiago, he said he felt the quake last night and lasted for around 4 minutes, it was measured around 4.5.

Glad to hear your family is safe

[froggy]

glad to hear that your family is ok. Lets hope that cooler heads prevail and that the people there can keep their civility, and remember that by helping each other they will all benifit in the long run

[AskClaudio.com]

NASA says each Earth day has shortened due to the quake in Chile

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth-20100301.html

[froggy]

NASA says each Earth day has shortened due to the quake in Chile

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth-20100301.html

interesting article but it doesn't go into detail as to why the earth day would shorten because of an earthquake?

[rustysoap]

NASA says each Earth day has shortened due to the quake in Chile

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth-20100301.html

They said the same about the underwater quake that cause the boxing day tsunami in thailand and area

[rustysoap]

interesting article but it doesn't go into detail as to why the earth day would shorten because of an earthquake?

think about it. Earth QUAKE causes the earth to shake. Since the earth is on a rotation, depending on the strength of that earth quake, it would have an effect on the speed and direction of rotation. Earth's days are based on how long it takes Earth to do a full rotation, if the speed is affected by either slowing or speeding, the length of the day is affected because now it takes longer and faster to do a full rotation. I'm no scientist so I could be waaaay off. I assume that the size of the tectonic plate would also play a role in the effect it has on the earth's rotation, which is probably why they didn't say anything about Haiti's earthquake shortening or lengthening the days.

[Broli]

Glad to hear your family is ok Claudio. i actually have quite a few family members living in Chile, all are fine as well. mostly just scared!


as for those jerks being a little rough on aristeidis. dont take it personal man, i think they live a little to close to the equator so they are more likely to be jerks . . . lol

i am kidding man, but i thought it was funny.

[drey]

think about it. Earth QUAKE causes the earth to shake. Since the earth is on a rotation, depending on the strength of that earth quake, it would have an effect on the speed and direction of rotation. Earth's days are based on how long it takes Earth to do a full rotation, if the speed is affected by either slowing or speeding, the length of the day is affected because now it takes longer and faster to do a full rotation. I'm no scientist so I could be waaaay off. I assume that the size of the tectonic plate would also play a role in the effect it has on the earth's rotation, which is probably why they didn't say anything about Haiti's earthquake shortening or lengthening the days.
wow i never thought that an earthquake would affect the speed of the Earth's rotation, that's insane. reading that link, it all seems so theoretical not sure how they really calculate these theories. sounds interesting but at the end of it all, a fraction of a second is really insignificant to the mass and size of the Earth... right?

[rustysoap]

yea I highly doubt we'd notice the difference of 1millionth of a second in our lifetime.

[froggy]

Ok what I want to know is if it was a one time thing like we lost that 1x10^-6 seconds per day or just for the 1 time when it happened? like talking your foot of the throttle for a second

[rustysoap]

Ok what I want to know is if it was a one time thing like we lost that 1x10^-6 seconds per day or just for the 1 time when it happened? like talking your foot of the throttle for a second

According to an article on CNN.com, it's permanent.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/02/chile.quake/index.html