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SOUTH
AMERICA: CHILE |
Chile
Quake Moves City 3 Metres
SOUTH AMERICA - Preliminary measurements
show the 8.8-magnitude quake which struck
Chile last month shifted the entire city of
Concepcion more than three metres to the
west, and some other cities of South America
were also displaced more or less, according
to media reports Tuesday.
Researchers from four universities and
several agencies gathered readings at 25 GPS
locator stations set up prior to the major
quake and then compared them to readings
taken 10 days later to come up with their
preliminary numbers.
"By reoccupying the existing GPS stations,
CAP can determine the displacements, or
'jumps,' that occurred during the
earthquake," said Mike Bevis, professor of
earth sciences at Ohio State University.
"By building new stations, the project can
monitor the postseismic deformations that
are expected to occur for many years, giving
us new insights into the physics of the
earthquake process," he added.
The results show the Chilean city of
Concepcion shifted 3 metres (10 feet) to the
west. Chile's capital Santiago was displaced
about 27.7 centimetres (11 inches) to the
west-southwest. And Buenos Aires, the
capital of Argentina, moved about 4
centimetres (1.5 inches) to the west. And
significant displacements were recorded as
far away as the Falkland Islands and
Fortaleza. |
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