Magnitude 6.9 - LIBERTADOR O HIGGINS, CHILE

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2010 March 11 14:39:44 UTC

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Earthquake Details

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

Magnitude	6.9
Date-Time	Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 14:39:44 UTC Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 11:39:44 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	34.259°S, 71.929°W
Depth	11 km (6.8 miles) set by location program
Region	LIBERTADOR O HIGGINS, CHILE
Distances	105 km (65 miles) W of Rancagua, Chile 130 km (80 miles) N of Talca, Chile 140 km (85 miles) S of Valparaiso, Chile 145 km (90 miles) SW of SANTIAGO, Chile
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 6.3 km (3.9 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters	NST=284, Nph=284, Dmin=594 km, Rmss=0.89 sec, Gp= 18°, M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=A
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	us2010tsa6

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Earthquake Summary

Felt Reports

Damage reported at Rancagua. A small tsunami was recorded with wave heights (peak-to-peak) of 16 cm at Valparaiso and 29 cm at San Antonio. Felt (VII) at Rancagua; (IV) at Santiago and Talca; (V) at Concepcion, San Antonio and Valparaiso; (IV) at Petorca, Quillota, Temuco and Villa Alemana; (III) at Quintero.

Tectonic Summary

The Chile earthquakes of March 11, 2010, 14:39 UTC and 14:55 UTC, occurred in the region of the plate boundary between the Nazca and South America plates, in the aftershock region of the great Chile earthquake of February 27, 2010. The March 11 earthquakes almost certainly occurred as the result of the change of regional stress caused by the February 27 earthquake. Preliminary analyses of their locations and seismic-wave radiation patterns, however, imply that the March 11 shocks occurred as the result of normal faulting within the subducting Nazca plate or the overriding South America plate, unlike the February 27 earthquake, which occurred as thrust faulting on the interface between the two plates. At present, the focal depths of the shocks are not known with sufficient precision to confidently determine within which of the Nazca or South America plate the earthquakes occurred.

Earthquake Information for Chile

Earthquake Information for South America

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Scientific & Technical Information

Tsunami Information

The earthquake locations and magnitudes cited in NOAA tsunami statements and bulletins are preliminary and are superseded by USGS locations and magnitudes computed using more extensive data sets.

General Tsunami Information

Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center:
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver