An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale was recorded this Friday in the Chilean city of Antofagasta, in the northern coastal area of the country. The quake struck at 7:46 a.m. local time, another four hours in Lisbon, the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center confirmed on social media.
The earthquake originated at a depth of 52 kilometers and occurred less than a day after another earthquake was also registered in Chile, but in the city of Maule, in the central zone of the country. This earthquake had a calculated magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale and was shallower, with the release of energy emerging at a depth of 15 kilometers.
Chile is located in a region of the planet that is highly prone to seismic activity. The country sits on the boundary between two tectonic plates, the pieces of the earth’s surface that interact with each other, allowing for the renewal of geological material.
The Nazca Plate and the South American Plate collide with each other, forcing the former to plunge onto the latter. The border bathed by the Pacific Ocean in Chile corresponds precisely to the limit between the two plates.
The Nazca Plate, under the Pacific Ocean, is made up of heavier rocks. As it plunges below the South American plate, it is destroyed when it hits the Earth’s magmatic layer. But the rocks that make up the two plates accumulate the stresses resulting from the collision between the two pieces. When they reach their energy absorption limit, the energy is released and gives rise to a new earthquake.
Source: Observadora
