The 1985 Rapel Lake earthquake[4][5] occurred on 8 April at 21:56:59 local time with a moment magnitude of 7.2 and a maximum perceived intensity of VI (Strong).[6] The shock was centered 75 kilometres (47 mi) southwest of Santiago, Chile,[3] with a focal depth of 37.8 km (23 mi).[7]
Mario Pardo, the director of the Chilean Seismological Service, told international press in April 1985 that it was "apparently an aftershock from the 3 March earthquake that killed 177 in central Chile" and that "the quake was centered in the ocean off the coast near Pichilemu, a city 100 miles southwest of Santiago".[9]
According to national radio networks, the tremors "were felt along a 1,000-mile stretch of Chile from Copiapó in the north to Valdivia in the south and across the Andes Mountaines in Argentina".[9]
Damage and effects
Two people died of heart attacks after the earthquake; one in Santiago and another in Chillán.[2][11] The earthquake lasted approximately three minutes according to The New York Times.[11]
It created damage in addition to that already caused by 3 March earthquake in the Santiago-Valparaíso area.[2]
Hundreds of people panicked into the streets, while radio stations reported some brief power blackouts. In Valparaíso, the roof of a house collapsed, while other houses fell down in Curacaví. No injuries were reported.[9]
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake was registered on 3 March 1985 offshore Valparaíso, Valparaíso Region.[1] It reached a maximum intensity of IX on the Mercalli intensity scale. 177 people were killed, 2,575 injured, 142,489 houses were damaged and about a million people were left homeless.[12] There was a long interruption on basic services, and the damage provoked by that earthquake was estimated to be more than 1,046 million US dollars.[13]
^ abc"Sismo del 8 de abril de 1985" (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: University of Chile Geological Service. 1985. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ abcd"Powerful quake shakes up Chile". The State. Columbia, South Carolina. 9 April 1985. p. 2. Pardo said the quake was centered in the ocean off the coast near Pichilemu, a city 100 miles southwest of Santiago.
^Urrutia de Hazbún, Rosa; Lanza Lazcano, Carlos (1993). Catástrofes en Chile, 1541–1992 (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Editorial La Noria. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
^ abAP (8 April 1985). "Strong quake jolts Chile". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
^"Terremoto de 1985" (in Spanish). Angelfire. Archived from the original on 4 August 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2010.