Carilec News
Carib Risk Managers - Natural Hazards Special Bulletin, Chile Earthquake
2010-03-02
Natural Hazards Special Bulletin:
Chile Earthquake, 27 February 2010
1 March 2010
THE EVENT
A very large earthquake struck the Pacific coast of Chile at 3:34am (local time, GMT -3 hrs) on 27 February 2010. Current information from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) indicates that the quake was a Magnitude 8.8 event at ~35 km depth with its hypocenter located at 35.846°S, 72.719°W, 115 km north-northeast of Concepcion. A large number of aftershocks have affected the area, eight of which thus far have been of magnitude 6.0 or greater. In the immediate aftermath of the quake, a tsunami watch was put out for the entire Pacific Basin.