Tectonic deformation from the 2010 Maule (Chile) Mw 8.8 earthquake included both uplift and subsidence along about 470 km of the central Chilean coast. In the south, deformation included as much as 3 m of uplift of the Arauco Peninsula, which produced emergent marine platforms and affected harbor infrastructure. In the central part of the deformation zone, north of Constitución, coastal subsidence drowned supratidal floodplains and caused extensive shoreline modification. In the north, coastal areas experienced either slight uplift or no detected change in land level. Also, river-channel deposition and decreased gradients suggest tectonic subsidence may have occurred in inland areas. The overall north-south pattern of 2010 coastal uplift and subsidence is similar to the average crestal elevation of the Coast Range between latitudes 33°S and 40°S. This similarity implies that the topography of the Coast Range may reflect long-term permanent strain accrued incrementally over many earthquake cycles.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AssimakiD., LedezmaC., MontalvaG. A., TassaraA., MylonakisG., and BoroschekR., 2012. Site effects and damage patterns, Earthquake Spectra28, this issue.
2.
BoroschekR., ContrerasV., KwakD. Y., and StewartJ. P., 2012. Strong ground motion attributes of the 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule Chile earthquake, Earthquake Spectra28, this issue.
3.
BrayJ. D., RollinsK., HutchinsonT., VerdugoR., LedezmaC., MylonakisG., AssimakiA., MontalvaG., ArduinoP., OlsonS. M., KayenR., HashashY. M. A., and CandiaG., 2012. Effects of ground failure on buildings, ports, and industrial facilities, Earthquake Spectra28, this issue.
4.
CamposJ., HatzfeldD., MadariagaR., LópezG., KauselE., ZolloA., IannaconeG., FrommR., BarrientosS., and Lyon-CaenH., 2002. A seismological study of the 1835 seismic gap in South Central Chile, Phys. Earth Planet. Int.132, 177–195.
5.
CastillaJ.C., and OlivaD., 1990. Ecological consequences of coseismic uplift on the intertidal kelp belts of Lessonianigrescens in central Chile, Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science31, 45–56, doi:10.1016/0272-7714(90)90027-O.
6.
CastillaJ. C., ManríquezP. H., and CamanoA., 2010. Effects of rocky shore coesimic uplift and the 2010 Chilean mega-earthquake on interridal biomarker species, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.418, 17–23, doi: 10.335/meps08830.
7.
Chile Servicio Nacional de Geologia y Mineria (CSNGM) Subdirección Nacional de Geología, 2003. Mapa geologico de Chile: versión digital: Publicacion geologica digital no. 4, versión 1.0, scale 1:1,000,000, available at http://www.ipgp.fr/~dechabal/Geol-millon.pdf.
8.
ComteD., EisenbergA., LorcaE., PardoM., and others, 1986. Chile earthquake of 3 March 1985, A repeat of previous great earthquakes in the region?, Science233, 449–453.
9.
DarwinC., 1839. Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, Vol III, Journals and Remarks 1832–1836: Henry Colburn, London.
10.
DarwinC., 1846, Geological Observations of South America, Smith and Elder, London, 279 pp.
11.
DelouisB., NocquetJ-M., and ValléeM., 2010. Slip distribution of the 27 February 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule earthquake, central Chile, from static and high-rate GPS, InSAR, and broadband teleseismic data, Geophys. Res. Lett.37, L17305.
12.
ElyL. L., CisternasM., WessonR. L., and LagosM., 2010. Geological evidence of predecessors to the 2010 earthquake and tsunami in south-central Chile, Abstract G32A-05 presented at 2010 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA.
13.
FaríasM., VargasG., TassaraA., CarretierS., BaizeS., MelnickD., and BatailleK., 2010. Land-level changes produced by the Mw 8.8 2010 Chilean earthquake, Science329, 916, DOI:10.1126/science.1192094.
14.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 2003. NEHRP Recommended Provisions and Commentary for Seismic Regulations for New Buildings and Other Structures, 2003 Edition, http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=2020.
15.
FitzRoyR., 1839. Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, Vol III, J. L. Cox & Sons, London.
16.
FritzH. M., PetroffC. M., CatalánP. A., CienfuegosR., WincklerP., KalligerisN., WeissR., BarrientosS., MenesesG., Valderas-BermejoC., EbelingC., PapadopoulosA., ContrerasM., AlmarR., and DominguezJ. C., 2011. Field survey of the 27 February 2010 Chile tsunami, Pure Appl. Geophys.168, 1989–2010.
GrahamM., 1823. An account of some effects of the late Earthquakes in Chili, Extracted from a letter to Henry Warburton, Esq. V.P.G.S., in Transactions of the Geological Society London, Ser. II, v. 1, 413–415.
19.
KendrickE., BevisM., SmalleyR.Jr., BrooksB., Barriga VargasR., LauríaE., and Souto FortesL.P., 2003. The Nazca–South America Euler vector and its rate of change, J. South Am. Earth Sci.16, 125–131, doi:10.1016/S0895-9811(03)00028-2.
20.
Kolbl-EbertM., 1999. Observing orogeny—Maria Graham's account of the earthquake in Chile in 1822, Episodes22, 36–40.
21.
LangeD., TilmannF., BarrientosS. E., Contreras-ReyesE., MetheP., MorenoM., HeitB., AgurtoH., BernardP., VilotteJ-P., and BeckS., 2012. Aftershock seismicity of the 27 February 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule earthquake rupture zone, Earth and Planetary Science Letters317–318, 413–425.
22.
LayT., AmmonC. J., KanamoriH., KoperK. D., SufriO., and HutkoA. R., 2010. Tele-seismic inversion for rupture process of the 27 February 2010 Chile (Mw 8.8) earthquake, Geophysical Research Letters37.
23.
LomnitzC., 1970, Major earthquakes and tsunamis in Chile during the period 1935 to 1955, Geologische Rundsdchau59, 938–960.
24.
LomnitzC., 2004. Major earthquakes of Chile: A historical survey, 1535–1960: Seismological Research Letters75, 368–378.
25.
LoritoS., RomanoF., AtzoriS., TongX., AvalloneA., McCloskeyJ., CoccoM., BoschiE., and PiatenesiA., 2011. Limited overlap between the seismic gap and coseismic slip of the great 2010 Chile earthquake, Nature Geoscience, doi:10.1038/NGEO1073.
26.
MelnickD., BookhagenB., EchtlerH. P., and StreckerM. R., 2006. Coastal deformation and great subduction earthquakes, Isla Santa Maria, Chile (37°S), Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull.118, 1463–1480, doi: 10.1130/B25865.1.
27.
MelnickD., BookhagenB., StreckerM. R., and EchtlerH. P., 2009. Segmentation of mega-thrust rupture zones from fore-arc deformation patterns over hundreds to millions of years, Arauco Peninsula, Chile, J. Geophys. Res.114, B01407, doi:10.1029/2008JB005788.
28.
MorenoM., RosenauM., and OnckenO., 2010. 2010 Maule earthquake slip correlates with pre-seismic locking of Andean subduction zone, Nature467, 198–202.
29.
OrtliebL., BarrientosS., and GuzmanN., 1999. Coseismic coastal uplift and coralline algae record in northern Chile: The 1995 Antofagasta Earthquake Case, Quat. Sci. Rev.15, 949–960.
30.
PlafkerG., and SavageJ. C., 1970. Mechanism of the Chilean earthquake of May 21 and 22, 1960, Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull.81, 1001–1030, doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1970)81[1001:MOTCEO]2.0.CO;2.
31.
Proyecto CITSU Cartas de Inundacion por Tsunami (CITSU), 2002. Puerto Lebu, Carta de Inundacion por Tsunami, Referida al Evento del Año 1835, Servicio Hidrografico Y Oceanografico De La Armada De Chile, available at http://www.snamchile.cl/citsu/pdf/citsu_lebu.pdf.
32.
RueggJ. C., RudloffA., VignyC., MadariagaR., de ChabalierJ. B., CamposJ., KauselE., BarrientosS., and DimitrovD., 2009. Interseismic strain accumulation measured by GPS in the seismic gap between Constitución and Concepción in Chile, Phys. Earth Plan. Int.175, 78–85.
33.
RyderI. M. A., RietbrockA., BevisM. G., BaezJ. C., BarrientosS. E., BatailleK., ParraK., and BrooksB. A., 2010. Postseismic investigation of the February Chile earthquake: relaxation processes and the relationship of seismic and aseismic activity, Abstract G33A-0821 presented at 2010 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA.
34.
RyderI., RietbrockR., KelsonK., BurgmannR., FloydM., SocquetA., VignyC., and CarrizoD., 2012. Large extensional aftershocks in the continental forearc triggered by the 2010 Maule earthquake, Chile, GJI DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2011.05321.x.
35.
TongX. D., SandwellK., Luttrell, BrooksB., BevisM., ShimadaM., FosterJ., SmalleyR.Jr., ParraH., Báez SotoJ. C., BlancoM., KendrickE., GenrichJ., and CaccamiseD. J.II, 2010. The 2010 Maule, Chile, earthquake: Downdip rupture limit revealed by space geodesy, Geophys Res. Let.37, L24311, doi: 10.1029/2010GL045805.
36.
VargasG., FariasM., CarretierS., TassaraA., BaizeS., and MelnickD., 2011. Coastal uplift and tsunami effects associated to the 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule earthquake in Central Chile, Andean Geology38, 219–238.
37.
VillagranM. F., CienfugosR., AlmarR., CatalánP. A., and CamañoA., 2011. Natural post-tsunami recovery of the Mataquito River mouth, after the 2010 Chilean tsunami, Abstract OS44B-05 presented at 2011 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA.
