2002•ScienceRequires access
Mature Seismic Gap
Author information unavailable
Open publisher page 0 citations
Abstract
The beautiful coastal ranges of Chile are seismically active, averaging a large-magnitude earthquake every 10 years. This activity is due to the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate. The number of seismic instruments deployed in Chile is small, so it has been difficult to determine the seismic hazard and how much of the plate motion is accommodated in the crust. In particular there is a region along the coast between latitudes 35 to 37 degrees that has not experienced a subduction-zone earthquake since 1835. This region may represent a mature seismic gap that has a higher probability of a large earthquake than other regions along the subduction zone.