2007 Aisén Fjord earthquake - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Aisén Fjord earthquakes were a series of seismic events of different magnitudes that occurred in Aisén Fjord

Aisén Fjord

Aisén Fjord is an ~70 km long fjord stretching east from a skerry-guarded region called Moraleda Channel , which is a body of water separating the Chonos Archipelago from the mainland of Chile. It is located at and is connected indirectly to the open coast of the Pacific Ocean via the Darwin...

from January 22, 2007, to April 22. The biggest occurred at 1:53 p.m. (local time) on April 21 and reached a felt intensity of VII (Very strong) on the Mercalli intensity scale. On the moment magnitude scale

Moment magnitude scale

The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...

, the earthquake reached a gradation of 6.2. Ten people disappeared, according to ONEMI

ONEMI

ONEMI or Oficina Nacional de Emergencia del Ministerio del Interior is a Chilean government agency dedicated to the prevention, organization, coordination and information relative to natural disasters. After the 1960 Valdivia earthquake a committee was formed to solve problems caused by the...

(Chile's National emergency office), but three bodies were found on April 22 by the Navy of Chile.

On the mountains around the fjord, the earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

caused landslide

Landslide

A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...

s that in turn created waves as high as 6m, which severely damaged some salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

aquaculture

Aquaculture

Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...

installations. The potable water systems of the cities of Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Aisén were broken, forcing firefighters and the army to supply water. The electricity network of Puerto Chacabuco

Puerto Chacabuco

Puerto Chacabuco is a Chilean town in Aisén commune. Administratively it belongs to Aisén Province in Aisén Region and is located at the head of Aisén Fjord...

was also cut off by the temblor.

The earthquake expanded to several zones of the country. At 6:22 a.m. (local time) on April 22, an intense earthquake was felt in Santiago, reaching grade II on the Mercalli scale.

Despite the protests against the government organized by Aysen's mayor, Chile's president, Michelle Bachelet

Michelle Bachelet

Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria is a Social Democrat politician who was President of Chile from 11 March 2006 to 11 March 2010. She was the first woman president of her country...

visited the affected zone. She was met with black flags and, during the protest, Aysen's mayor Óscar Catalán was arrested. Catalán criticized heavily that the region hadn't received the necessary help to prevent damage and casualties during the earthquake as there had been minor earthquakes since January.

According to ONEMI

ONEMI

, the following cities and town in Aisén Region were affected by the latest earthquake. The roman numerals show the intensity on the Mercalli scale.

Puerto Chacabuco VII
Puerto Aisén VII
Coihaique VI
Balmaceda
Balmaceda, Chile
Balmaceda is a Chilean village located south east of Coyhaique in Aisén Region. Balmaceda has around 500 inhabitants, and has Aysen Regions largest airport and meteorological station; Balmaceda Airport. The first settlers arrived into the zone in early-20th century after being expelled from...

V
Cochrane
Cochrane, Chile
Cochrane is a Chilean town and commune in Capitán Prat Province of the Aisén Region. According to the 2002 census it has a population of 2,867. The urban population in 2002 was 2,217 and the rural population was 650....

IV

Seismic movements and events before April 21

Since January 22, Aysén Fjord has suffered a series of minor earthquakes. The greatest before April 21 reached grade VI on the Mercalli scale and occurred at 3:44 on p.m. on April 14, 2007. Local fishermen have reported seeing steam rising from the fjord.

Sources

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Seismic movements and events before April 21

See also

Sources