Chile suffered more than 300 earthquakes in a week

In the past week, Chile's northernmost region has been constantly shaken by more than 300 earthquakes, but the scientific world has not yet been able to determine whether this is an abnormal sign of an impending disaster. out or not.

The earthquake series started with an earthquake of 6.7 Richter magnitude occurred on March 16, causing more than 100,000 people to evacuate urgently from the lowlands.

Next, there were more than 12 other earthquakes in this area, shaking the city of Iquique.

The ruined scene after an earthquake in Santiago, Chile.(Source: AFP / VNA)

Deputy Director of the Seismic Center of the University of Chile, Mr. Mario Pardo, said this was an unusual phenomenon. According to him, earthquakes accompanied by aftershocks occurred continuously, making things more difficult to assess and predict.

"We cannot rule out the possibility of a bigger earthquake , " he said.

Sharing this view, a seismic analyst from the University of Santiago, Paulina Gonzalez, affirmed that this is a remarkable phenomenon because the most recent similar earthquake chain happened 130 years ago. year.

Gonzalez admits that Chile's northernmost region is a place where frequent earthquakes are common, but it has not been a long-standing earthquake like this.

Chile is located on the fire belt of the Earth and should be one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. In 2010, in the Central Region, an earthquake of 8.8 Richter magnitude caused more than 500 deaths, 220,000 houses and many infrastructures were destroyed.

Chile is also the place where the strongest earthquake in the world seismic history occurs with a magnitude of 9.5 Richter. It was an earthquake in 1960, killing more than 5,000 people.