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Cause And Effect Essay On Chilean Earthquake

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1 Introduction:
A natural hazard is an extreme event that occurs naturally and causes harm to humans or other things we care about, while a Geomorphic hazard is that originating from the lithosphere including, volcanic eruption, earthquake and tsunamis. An earthquake is a sudden violent shaking of the ground, typically showing great destruction. This report will focus on the Great Chilean earthquake. I will report and examine the causes, details, effects including, social, environmental and economical. I will also examine what has been done to prepare, prevent and minimise the hazard and suggest ways to further minimise the effects of this hazard.

2 Information about the event:

2.1 The great Chilean earthquake; the largest earthquake ever recorded struck Valdivia, Chile (See figure 2.1)

2.2 On May 22, 1960, at 3:11 pm origin time.

2.3 The 1960 Chile earthquake was caused by the Nazca plate releasing tension and descending 15 meters underneath the South American Plate. (See figure 2.3)

2.4 At 3.11pm an 8.5-magnitude quake rocked southern Chile. The epicentre being off the coast of Chile was just under the Pacific ocean causing huge landslides of debris. At 4:20 pm a 26ft wave came in hitting most structures and building, several minutes later a 35ft wave rolled in killing more than 1000 people.

2.5 Casualties ranged between 1000-7000 people. Historians do not know for sure the exact numbers but they estimate the numbers between 1000-6000 people died, many not

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