1940 Lima earthquake
1940 Lima earthquake is located in Peru
1940 Lima earthquake
UTC time1940-05-24 16:33:59
ISC event901374
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local date24 May 1940
Local time11:35 a.m.
Duration~1 minute
Magnitude8.2 Mw
8.4 Ms
Depth45 km (28 mi)
Epicenter11°05′38″S 77°29′13″W / 11.094°S 77.487°W / -11.094; -77.487
FaultPeru-Chile Megathrust
TypeMegathrust
Areas affectedPeru
Max. intensityVIII (Severe)
Tsunami2 m (6 ft 7 in)
LandslidesYes
AftershocksMw 6.6
Casualties179–300 dead
3,500 injured

The 1940 Lima earthquake occurred on May 24 at 11:35 a.m. PST with a magnitude of Mw 8.2 on the moment magnitude scale. Shaking from this powerful earthquake was felt throughout the country, and in Ecuador and Chile.[1] An estimated 179 to 300 Peruvians lost their lives while 3,500 left injured by the earthquake. The earthquake was centered near the coastal cities of Huacho and Huaura, about 150 km (93 mi) north of the Peruvian capital, Lima. A tsunami of up to two meters was generated without major damage.[2]

Earthquake

The earthquake was a megathrust event, caused by a sudden slippage along a section of fault under the Peru–Chile Trench. Here, the Nazca Plate subducts beneath the South American Plate at a rate of 10 cm (3.9 in)/yr, this process could be seen throughout the entire west coast of South America. The interface where both plates make contact occasionally produce moderate to great earthquakes.[3] During the May 1940 earthquake, it is thought that a 162 km (101 mi) × 71 km (44 mi) segment of the megathrust ruptured, with an average displacement of 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in). A maximum uplift of 1.27 m (4 ft 2 in), and subsidence of 0.6 m (2 ft 0 in) was estimated.[4] The rupture area is wedged between that of the 1966 and 1974 earthquake.[5]

Damage

In Lima, the devastation was great, 32 people were killed in this city alone, while in Callao, the death toll was at 58. The Lima Cathedral was badly damaged, together with several thousand buildings.[6] At Bellavista, there were 11 deaths, ten of them were children when the school they were in collapsed, and in San Miguel, two were dead.[6] An estimated 3.6 million Peruvian sols worth of damage was caused by the earthquake. The earthquake was felt with a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "20th Century Earthquakes Records about Historical Earthquakes in Peru". LimaEasy. Archived from the original on August 25, 2013. Retrieved 12 Dec 2020.
  2. ↑ "Tsunami Event Information CENTRAL PERU". NGDC. Retrieved 12 Dec 2020.
  3. ↑ Bilek, Susan L. (2009). "Seismicity along the South American subduction zone: Review of large earthquakes, tsunamis, and subduction zone complexity" (PDF). Tectonophysics. 495 (1–2): 2–14. doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2009.02.037.
  4. 1 2 Jiménez, C.; Moggiano, N. (2020). "Numerical simulation of the 1940 Lima-Peru earthquake and tsunami (Mw 8.0)". Journal of Seismology. 24 (1): 89–99. Bibcode:2020JSeis..24...89J. doi:10.1007/s10950-019-09887-2. S2CID 208044199 – via SpringerLink.
  5. ↑ Beck, Susan L.; Ruff, Larry J. (1989). "Great earthquakes and subduction along the Peru trench" (PDF). Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors. 57 (3–4): 199–224. Bibcode:1989PEPI...57..199B. doi:10.1016/0031-9201(89)90112-X. hdl:2027.42/27698.
  6. 1 2 "300 die in Lima earthquake". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Retrieved 12 December 2020.
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