7.2-Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Chile

Tsunami alert issued after largest aftershock since calamitous Feb. temblor

The largest aftershock since Chile's devastating earthquake rocked the South American country Thursday, minutes before the inauguration of President Sebastian Pinera.

The 7.2-magnitude aftershock was stronger than the Jan. 12 quake that devastated the Haitian capital. It happened along the same fault zone as Chile's magnitude-8.8 quake on Feb. 27, said geophysicist Don Blakeman at the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado.

Chile's emergency office said there were no immediate reports of damage, but the Chilean Navy issued a tsunami alert.

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Chilean Earthquake Hints at Dangers of 'Big One' for USA

From USA Today
By William M. Welch, Dan Vergano and Chris Hawley, USA TODAY

One of the really "Big Ones" to shake the United States was a magnitude-9.0 earthquake along the Pacific Northwest coast more than 300 years ago, before the arrival of huge numbers of people and development, that sent a catastrophic tsunami to Japan.

Were something like that 1700 quake to occur today — and it certainly could, seismologists say — enormous destruction and loss of life would result in a region that is home now to big cities and millions of people.

The magnitude-8.8 earthquake that rocked Chile and sent tsunami fears across the Pacific on Saturday — nearly seven weeks after the enormously deadly quake that destroyed parts of Haiti— serves as a vivid reminder of the perils posed to the United States by countless fault lines and shifting plates.

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Huge Quake Hits Chile; Tsunami Threatens Pacific

A devastating magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, shattering buildings and bridges, killing at least 78 people and setting off a tsunami that threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe.

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