South American Cities Moved in Chile Quake

[n2doc]

By Lauren Effron | Mon Mar 8, 2010 06:24 PM ET
With disasters striking Haiti, Chile and most recently Turkey, it seems like there is no end in sight for the earthquake-weary.

New evidence released from Ohio State University (OSU) shows that the 8.8-magnitude mega-quake that struck off the coast of Chile last month was so powerful that multiple South American cities were picked up and physically moved from their original locations.

The effects of the temblor that struck Concepcion, Chile, were felt as far away as Brazil and the Falkland Islands in what is believed to be the fifth largest quake ever recorded.

Here's the break down of the shake-up:

Conception, Chile, shifted 10 feet to the west.
Santiago, Chile’s capital, was displaced about 11 inches to the west-southwest.
Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, moved about 1 inch to the west.
And Buenos Aires sits on the other side of the continent!
The cities of Valparaiso and Mendoza, Argentina, northeast of Concepcion, also showed significant movement.

more:

http://news.discovery.com/earth/south-american-cities-moved-in-chile-quake.html

[Demeter]

1. Ten Feet--

So glad I don't live in California.

[htuttle]

2. I can only imagine the hassles that side effect alone would cause

Just about everyone in emergency services uses GPS nowadays for roads and addresses, and public utilities use them for maps of underground power lines, sewers, etc... 10 feet would make a big difference if you were looking for a water main.

They'll have a lot of work to do just remapping everything after all the dead are buried and the rubble cleared.

[krispos42]

3. It's truly amazing we can even measure that small of a distance.

Truly amazing!