The most powerful earthquake the world has ever seen left ‘the earth ringing like a bell’ | History | News

Chile: The Impact of the 1960 Earthquake on Film

On May 22, 1960, Chile was hit by the most powerful earthquake ever recorded, with a magnitude of 9.5.

By comparison, the magnitude of the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria earlier this year was much lower, with a magnitude of 7.8.

So powerful was the Great Chilean earthquake, that shook the nation for more than ten minutes, and was felt around the world for several days afterwards.

Massive tsunamis caused waves to travel across the world to Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the Aleutian Islands.

Here, Express.co.uk takes a closer look at the world’s worst earthquake ever recorded.

Read more: Ranking the deadliest earthquakes in history

Earthquake damage in Valdivia (Image: GETTY)

How did the disaster happen?

About 100 miles off the coast of Chile and parallel to the city of Valdivia, the Nazca Plate was forced under the South American Plate, triggering the earthquake.

The natural disaster is widely believed to have a magnitude of 9.5 – however some studies have suggested a higher reading of 9.6.

It began at 3:11 pm and lasted for 11 minutes, causing severe damage to several Chilean cities, particularly Valdivia, with almost half of the buildings left uninhabitable.

But the worst is not over yet. Just 15 minutes later, an 80-foot tsunami—the same height as the White House—followed. It will take a few more hours before the effects are felt around the world.

Lucy Jones of the USGS explained in an interview with CBS in 2010: “When you have a big enough earthquake, it releases enough energy to ring the whole Earth, almost like a bell, which rang for days after the 1960 earthquake.”

The magnitude of the earthquake was 9.5 (Image: GETTY)

The quake lasted about 11 minutes (Image: GETTY)

In total, it is estimated that 1,655 people were killed in Chile, 3,000 were injured, and two million people were left homeless.

Just 15 hours after Chile, waves as high as 35 feet were recorded in Hilo Bay, Hawaii, damaging 500 buildings and businesses and killing 61 people.

Fusayo Ito, who lived in Wayakia, woke up at 1:04 a.m. to “deafening roars” as her home was destroyed around her, according to the Pacific Tsunami Museum. By some “miracle,” she was able to survive and live to tell her story until the age of 96.

About a day after the earthquake in Chile, he reached the Japanese island of Honshu. While the waves shrank to 18 feet, they were still deadly, destroying 1,600 homes and killing 138.

A staggering two million people have been left homeless and more than 1,600 killed (Image: GETTY)

In the Philippines, 32 people were killed or missing. And along the Pacific coast of the United States, 6-foot waves have wrecked boats at docks in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Long Beach.

After adjusting for inflation, the cost of the whole ordeal is estimated at £6.56 billion.

But the conflict in Chile is far from over. Just 38 hours after the earthquake, the Cordon Kul volcano erupted after four decades of inactivity. Since then, seismologists have linked the two natural disasters.

In the aftermath, water shortage became a serious problem in regions of Chile.

City blocks were badly damaged in Valdivia—40 percent of the homes destroyed—and many remained empty until the early 20th century.

Foreign countries stepped in to assist the Chilean government with emergency supplies. Soon, the United States built two field hospitals and sent medicine, food, and clothing.

new strategy

In the aftermath, Chile developed a national earthquake management strategy using a seismic design code developed for new buildings, homes, and offices.

Buildings in Chile are now being constructed to sway with seismic waves rather than trying to resist them.

It appears to have had a lasting impact as a 2011 report by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction states that the country’s building codes “continue to play a significant role in protecting people”.

In 2010, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Chile followed by a tsunami, killing more than 500 and destroying 220,000 homes.

And at the time it caused death and destruction, experts said that thanks to the stability of the buildings, the earthquake did not have a great impact like that witnessed in Haiti, where 220,000 people died in the same year in an earthquake with a magnitude of less than 7.0.

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