The earthquake in Chile is the strongest type on the planet

The terrible earthquake in Chile and the earthquake that caused the tsunami in Asia in 2004 was listed as the strongest earthquake in history.

Rescue workers search for victims in an earthquake building in Concepcion, Chile on February 27.Photo: Reuters.

The 8.8-magnitude magnitude earthquakes are classified as "megathrust", meaning the strongest earthquake on the planet. According to the AP, they appear when a plate tectonic plate shifts beneath another array. Paul Caruso, a geophysicist at the US Geological Department, said the earthquake yesterday released about 50 billion tons of energy and broke a section about 400 kilometers long on the milling line.

The earthquake's epicenter was outside the sea and the epicenter of the largest earthquake ever recorded in history was about 224 km to the north. The strongest seismic occurred in 1960 and had a magnitude of 9.5 Richter. It killed 1,600 people in Chile on many other people in the Pacific.

"The earthquake in Chile on February 27 belongs to super strong seismic forces," AP quoted geographer Brian Atwater of the US Geological Bureau.

Ken Hudnut, a colleague of Atwater, said that only a few earthquakes were classified as super strong.

Chile's earthquake is weaker than the 9.1-magnitude earthquake on Indonesia's Sumatra island in 2004. Another difference is that in this earthquake countries have more time to prepare to deal with tsunami. In 2004, the world had too few facilities and technology to warn about the risk of tsunamis early. As a result, about 230,000 people were killed.

The disaster in Chile happened exactly one day after Japan's southern coast shook by a mild earthquake. Experts believe that the two seismic episodes are not related to each other. Geography professor Tim Dixon of the University of Miami said he did not find a link between the earthquake yesterday and the disaster in Haiti.

According to Dixon, earthquakes like Haiti in the world occur monthly and often appear underwater. Meanwhile the seismic attack of Chile is one of the strongest earthquakes in modern history.