Week 2: Plates and Boundaries
Are there any plates and boundaries by Chile, and what dangers do they pose to the country?
Hi everyone! this week's blog post will be dedicated to the fault lines that are near the country Chile and what threats they pose to the country. Chile happens to be very close to a Convergent Boundary called the Nazca Plate. With these, come both appeals and drawbacks. The great and beautiful Andes mountains are products of this subduction fault line, having been created over millions of years. A negative of being so close is all of the possible natural catastrophes that are likely to happen. According to "Earthquakes in Chile" Chile has an astounding "2 Million minor earthquakes every year, about 18 major earthquakes, and 1 earthquake of a magnitude of 8 or higher". Another tragic fact about Chile and its earthquakes is that the most powerful earthquake in history happened in Chile. It is called the Valdivian Earthquake, it registered at a 9.5 on the Richter scale. According to National Geographic, the earthquake was responsible for " 2 million people homeless, injured at least 3,000, and killed approximately 1,655. Adjusted for inflation, the economic damage totaled more than $2 billion." Chile also happens to be at high risk for tsunamis since the fault line lies underwater, and these frequent earthquakes can cause the water to form massive, incredibly destructive waves called tsunamis. Another risk Chile faces is Volcanic activity. Chile is in the Ring of Fire, and according to chileculture.org "About 500 volcanoes are potentially active, 36 are currently active and 44 have erupted at least once since 1820. In the last 20 years there have been 15 volcanic eruptions." Chile has an abundance of risk for these disasters to occur, it does not however, take away from the magnificence and beauty of the country. Below is an image of the Nazca Plate and its relativity to Chile. Thanks for reading my blog this week, I'll post my sources below. See ya next week.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/may22/valdivia-earthquake-strikes-chile/
https://legacy.earlham.edu/~bieriir/earthquakes/
http://www.chileculture.org/volcanoes-chile/
Are there any plates and boundaries by Chile, and what dangers do they pose to the country?
Hi everyone! this week's blog post will be dedicated to the fault lines that are near the country Chile and what threats they pose to the country. Chile happens to be very close to a Convergent Boundary called the Nazca Plate. With these, come both appeals and drawbacks. The great and beautiful Andes mountains are products of this subduction fault line, having been created over millions of years. A negative of being so close is all of the possible natural catastrophes that are likely to happen. According to "Earthquakes in Chile" Chile has an astounding "2 Million minor earthquakes every year, about 18 major earthquakes, and 1 earthquake of a magnitude of 8 or higher". Another tragic fact about Chile and its earthquakes is that the most powerful earthquake in history happened in Chile. It is called the Valdivian Earthquake, it registered at a 9.5 on the Richter scale. According to National Geographic, the earthquake was responsible for " 2 million people homeless, injured at least 3,000, and killed approximately 1,655. Adjusted for inflation, the economic damage totaled more than $2 billion." Chile also happens to be at high risk for tsunamis since the fault line lies underwater, and these frequent earthquakes can cause the water to form massive, incredibly destructive waves called tsunamis. Another risk Chile faces is Volcanic activity. Chile is in the Ring of Fire, and according to chileculture.org "About 500 volcanoes are potentially active, 36 are currently active and 44 have erupted at least once since 1820. In the last 20 years there have been 15 volcanic eruptions." Chile has an abundance of risk for these disasters to occur, it does not however, take away from the magnificence and beauty of the country. Below is an image of the Nazca Plate and its relativity to Chile. Thanks for reading my blog this week, I'll post my sources below. See ya next week.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/may22/valdivia-earthquake-strikes-chile/
https://legacy.earlham.edu/~bieriir/earthquakes/
http://www.chileculture.org/volcanoes-chile/
Very nice post and tectonic explanation. It seems that it will suffer the consequences of this active tectonic setting mostly in the western part...looking forward to next weeks' quakes...
ReplyDeleteHi Sam! Great post about Chile and the natural hazards it faces. I'm researching Barbados and it is also on a convergent boundary and therefore faces many of the same hazards as you do. I'm interested in learning more about Chile and how similar it can be to Barbados!
ReplyDeleteHey Sam, great post. Chile seems to be a very dangerous place to live, with it's potential of catastrophes. Finding out the biggest earthquake ever happened there makes me uneasy of wanting to visit Chile. It's interesting seeing the differences between Chile and Singapore, the country I'm researching, because Singapore is largely a safe country when it comes to hazards.
ReplyDeleteHi Sam, this was a great post about Chile and it’s tectonics. It seems as if Chile is a very dangerous place to live and has many natural hazards that could turn into catastrophes very quick. I am researching China, and alike Chile, it lies on a convergent boundary too. This convergent boundary that China lies on formed the Himalayan mountains. It seems as if the convergent boundary that Chile lies on causes more earthquakes than China. The picture that you included in your post was very helpful and informative.
ReplyDelete