THE 1868 ARICA TSUNAMI
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS :
1. What caused the Arica tsunami in 1868?
- The Arica Tsunami was caused by an earthquake occurred along the boundary between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate. The earthquake was likely a result of thrust-faulting, caused by the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate.
2. What were the damaging effects of this tsunami?
- The earthquake caused almost complete destruction in the southern part of Peru, including Arica, Tacna, Moquegua, Mollendo, Ilo, Iquique, Torata and Arequipa, resulting in an estimated 25,000 casualties, and many shipwrecks.
- The tsunami drove three ships anchored in port nearly 800 m ( 2,600 ft ) inland: the 1560-ton Peruvian corvette America, the U.S. gunboat Wateree and the U.S. store ship Fredonia, which was completely destroyed.
- On the mainland, Banks Peninsula was hardest hit with a Maori village and two houses washed away and boats damaged, and one death was recorded.
- In New Zealand, it is the only fatal tsunami on record, causing substantial damage on the Chatham Islands and an estimated 20 people washed out to sea.
3. What do you think were the possible factors that contributed to the loss of thousands of lives and the huge damage to properties in this disaster?
- The possible factors that contributed to the loss of thousands of lives and the huge damage to properties in this disaster were the impact of an earthquake causing a tsunami. Two separate earthquakes have been described; they may both refer to the same event. The earthquake was felt over a wide area, up to 1,400 km (870 mi) to the northwest in Samanco, Peru and 224 km (139 mi) to the east in Bolivia. Estimates of its magnitude range from 8.5 to 9.0. A 600 km (370 mi) rupture length has been estimated from the pattern of isoseismals making it one of the largest fault breaks in modern times. Although this event generated a tsunami that was noted across the Pacific, most of the associated damage was localised along the coasts of southern Peru and what is now northernmost Chile. The first wave arrived at Arica 52 minutes after the earthquake, with a 12 m (39 ft) height, followed by the largest 16 m (52 ft) wave 73 minutes later.
unleashed.
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