Chile's Mega-Earthquake Triggered 'Icequakes' in Antarctica
Chile's Mega-Earthquake Triggered 'Icequakes' in Antarctica
World | Agence France-Presse | Updated: August 10, 2014 22:51 IST
Paris: A monster earthquake that struck Chile in 2010 also unleashed minor "icequakes" in Antarctica nearly 4,700 kilometres (2,900 miles) to the south, scientists said on Sunday.
Sensors recorded small tremors in West Antarctica within six hours of the Chilean mega-shock, providing the first evidence that the world's greatest ice sheet can be affected by distant but powerful quakes, they said.
Twelve out of 42 monitoring stations dotted across the vast region showed "clear evidence" of a spike in high-frequency seismic signals, the team reported in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The signals tallied with signs of ice fractures near the surface, they added.
The February 27, 2010 quake, which occurred just off the coast of Chile's Maule region, measured 8.8 in magnitude, making it one of the largest ever recorded.
It killed more than 500 people and inflicted an estimated $30 billion (22.5 billion euros) in damages.
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