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The Big One

An 8.8 seismological event on the Richter Scale in Chile – an almost unimaginably powerful quake, considering that the Richter Scale is logarithmic.

The destruction in South America will be massive, if this is any indication: The Navy is evacuating parts Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, nearly 7000 miles away. Tsunami warnings are in effect as far away as Australia – almost 9000 miles away.

That’s the equivalent of 15.8 gigatons of TNT energy.

The mind reels.

Update: The most powerful earthquake recorded by man was also in Chile, in 1960. It measured 9.2 on the Richter Scale.

The event occurred at 0334 local time, 0634 UTC.

USGS news report on YouTube.

From NOAA:

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31 comments to The Big One

  • FbL

    From frequent commenter Homefront6, an Army Wife in Hawaii… http://homefrontsix.blogspot.com/2010/02/tsunami-warning.html

  • Mongo

    I spent a couple years in central Chile, some of it in Cauquenes (near Parral, which was epicenter), and have a number of families that I’m close to in Concepcion. I can’t imagine what the quake and aftershocks were like for them.

    The country, as a whole, has had an excellent Civil Defense organization for decades, but no amount of preparation or readiness can withstand that level of destructive energy. A BBC report said the quake lasted about two minutes; then there’s the aftershocks (6.9). The quakes in SoCal were nothing compared to these beasts.

    Still waiting to hear from anyone there, but communications are down right now.

    Prayers going out to the Chilean people, a hardy people used to hardship.

    • I was in Santiago last year and while touring the city they still talked about the “Big One” in 1960, recognizing it could happen again. No doubt, none suspected it would be this soon.
      No communication from the folks I know there either.

  • Humble1310

    All the streets around us are in the “Evac Zone” and residents have to leave. Ours and ones further uphill are supposed to stay.

    Should be a fun weekend. . .

    (In all seriousness, I’m not seeing much destruction in K-Bay from this one. We get bigger waves than the prediction on a good surf day.)

    • lex

      Yeah, but a Tsunami isn’t a wave, measured from trough to crest, it’s a surge. And it comes in fast. If you follow the links to the 1960 Chilean earthquake, you’ll see that Hilo got hammered last time.

      Good luck.

      • PAUL B TOWSON

        NOAA guy on TV said these can be 50 MILES crest to crest. Just in… another 6.2 just hit Argentina.

  • Safety wishes to all our warriors and their families – both in Hawaii and those we know will be streaming to Chile in the coming days.

    Definite prayers being sent to the people of Chile.

    I confess to being reminded of the 4 Gospels, specifically Mark 13:

    For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

    Indonesia. Haiti. Chile.

    • Mongo

      and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

      We are definitely in those times, Kris. Let everyone prepare for what lies ahead.

  • Humble, do the good surf days come from a wave approaching Hawaii at 500 mph? ;)

    Kris, I’m not too worried. There’s a reason the rim of the Pacific Basin is called the Ring of Fire. Some years you’re going to have more earthquakes than others.

    What I do expect to happen is the loony (as opposed to the sensible) greens will blame this on global warming Real Soon Now. Might even work Bush into it, somehow.

    I wonder how it’s going to affect the US west coast, since that’s parallel to the Chilean coast, as opposed to broadside like Hawaii or Australia.

    • And also if they get Hugo Chavez’ power back on he’ll blame the U.S. That evil HARP program the military is running up in Alaska.

    • FbL

      I wonder how it’s going to affect the US west coast, since that’s parallel to the Chilean coast, as opposed to broadside like Hawaii or Australia.

      I think the south-facing beaches on the West Coast would be most-affected, yes?

  • Mongo

    I wonder how it’s going to affect the US west coast, since that’s parallel to the Chilean coast, as opposed to broadside like Hawaii or Australia.

    I suspect southerly facing shores like Santa Barbara will see some pretty healthy surf, and the rest will experience some confused seas for a day or so.

    Humble, Mokapu point would be fun to watch. Kansas Tower or the Officer’s Club for a good vantage point? Running up the hill from the golf course was always a good way to destroy the hamstrings. :)

  • SJBill

    “Where’s the nearest carrier?”
    Wannabet Carl Vinson makes an extended port call?

  • Ron Snyder

    Good luck to all.

  • Bou

    Thank you for posting this with pictures. I read about this, this morning when I awoke, but then life intervened and I didn’t have a chance to do any research and honestly, as the day has worn on, and I kept hearing about it, I was struggling to wrap my mind around it. Tsunamis scare the crap out of me… tsunamis and tornados. Give me one of our hurricanes any day of the week… I know in advance when they’re coming and can prepare. At least with a this potential tsunami there is warning.

  • Mongo

    The tsunami raced across the Pacific Ocean in terrifying force after the magnitude-8.8 quake hit Chile. Officials in Hawaii had ample time to get people out of the potential disaster area, and thousands were evacuated.

    The tsunami was causing a series of surges that were about 20 minutes apart, and the waves arrived later and smaller than originally predicted. The highest wave at Hilo measured 5.5 feet high, while Maui saw some as high as 6 feet.

    Well, that’s good news. There were reports of water levels in Long Beach such that ships and boats couldn’t come pierside. Here’s hoping the rest goes well, and that rescue efforts in Chile go well. Bridge down over river Bio-Bio…very bad thing; only major thoroughfare from Concepcion going south.

  • Mike M.

    They just declared the all-clear in Hawaii.

  • Quartermaster

    The big problem at Hilo is the geometry of the bay. It tends to magnify the surge. That’s what happened in 1960, and why they are a bit paranoid with something like today’s event. Fortunately, it was less than expected. Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best.

  • SCOTTtheBADGER

    That is the nice thing about living in Wisconsin, we and Minnesota are on the Canadian Shield, a mile thick layer of granite. So we are nice and stable. My thoughts and prayers go out to Chile.

  • Yeah, Scott, but you have to deal with tornadoes! No, wait a minute, that’s Kansas. What about the floods? Nope, that’s the states along the Mississippi.

    I remember now! Y’all have snow! Lots and lots of snow!!

    Ok. So snow isn’t so dramatic. Unless you have to shovel it. :)

    I’m just glad the tsunami didn’t cause any major damage. The quake was bad enough.

  • Humble ~ how did I not know you were here on island? Aloha!

    All is well here. Most definitely the non-event. I want a T shirt that says “I survived the Tsunami of 2010″. The biggest danger came from the knuckleheads on the roads and in the lines for gas. We didn’t venture out until well after the first “waves” began coming ashore and, by then, Wal-Mart was a ghost town. The “2-Case limit on Spam” made me laugh though!

    But it was a great exercise for the Civil Defense peeps here so no complaints.

  • The first waves should be arriving here in Okinawa any moment, if they haven’t already. There have been some evacuations of low coastal areas, but it seems like we’re not going to see much effect. The 6.9 quake yesterday was much more exciting. It was, of course, muted by the monster in Chile.

  • SCOTTtheBADGER

    Well, that was an unusual series of posts.

  • Mongo

    First contact with those in Chile.

    Friends in Concepcion say the central portion of the city is in ruins. Power just came back today, but water is still out. One friend and her family own a small store, so they had more supplies than most. Being on the outskirts of the city they fared better, not having multi-story buildings toppling over. Most of them still alive are in wonderment of that fact.

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