Yesterday’s 8.2-magnitude earthquake off of northern Chile may not be the biggest one the region will see, according to various reports.
“Could be tomorrow, could be in 50 years; we do not know when it’s going to occur,” Mike Simons, a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) seismologist told the Associated Press. “We’re actually still expecting potentially an
even larger earthquake.”
Earthquakes in this part of the world are common, according to the USGS. Cities near where the quake occurred — Iquique and Arica, Chile — sit on what’s been termed the northern Chile or Iquique seismic gap, with the last major earthquake occurring there in 1877. “One large gap remained and that’s where this earthquake occurred,” Andrew Newman, a Georgia Institute of Technology geophysicist, told weather.com. “However, it was much smaller than what we were expecting.”
That doesn’t mean earthquakes haven’t happened in the area in more than a century; four of magnitude 6 or higher actually took place there between March 16 and March 23. (The largest earthquake ever recorded also happened in Chile in 1960, but in the country’s southern region.)
So far, just six deaths and relatively little damage have been reported from yesterday’s quake. Newman said the fact that the area is used to and prepared for earthquakes might have played a part in lowering the toll in terms of deaths, injuries and damage.
If scientists are right about another, bigger event — one Newman said scientists estimate could reach 9 on the Richter scale — that preparedness will be key, particularly given how hard it is to determine when and where it’ll happen. “There’s the potential for another one,” he said.
no se sintió allá la weá? 
