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Tsunamis from the Arica-Tocopilla source region and their effects on ports of Central Chile

Natural Hazards volume 71, pages 175–202 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

The last great earthquake in northern Chile took place in 1877, and the ensuing tsunami affected not only that region but also Central Chile. For example, the Bay of Concepción, which is located 1,500 km south of the tsunami source, experienced an inundation height of around 3 m. Ports are important in the Chilean economy, due to the fact that a large percentage of Chilean exports (excluding copper) use ports located in Central Chile. With this in mind, the authors investigated the potential effect of an 1877-like tsunami on the main ports of Central Chile. To do this, the dispersive wave model Non-hydrostatic Evolution of Ocean WAVEs was used. In addition, the first tsunami forecast model for Talcahuano, inside the Bay of Concepción, was developed by means of numerical simulation of several events of different moment magnitudes. The results showed that most of the important ports (Valparaiso, San Antonio, San Vicente and Coronel) had inundation heights on the order of just 1 m, while inundation levels in Talcahuano reached up to 3.5 m. The forecast model for Talcahuano uses only earthquake magnitude, focal depth and tide level to determine tsunami inundation heights. In addition, the tsunami arrival time was computed to be 3 h, and the maximum tsunami amplitude takes place at 4 h and 45 min after the earthquake.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Maritime and Port Research Center (CIMP) and the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA) for providing valuable topography data. The authors also like to thank the Research Department (Dirección de Investigación) of Universidad Católica de la Ssma Concepción for partial funding of this research as well as the two reviewers for the careful reviews and comments to improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Universidad Católica de la Ssma Concepción, National Research Center for Integrated Natural Disasters Management (CIGIDEN), Alonso de Ribera 2850, Concepción, Chile

    Rafael Aránguiz

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan

    Tomoya Shibayama

  3. Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2540 Dole Street, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Yoshiki Yamazaki

Authors
  1. Rafael Aránguiz
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  2. Tomoya Shibayama
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  3. Yoshiki Yamazaki
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Correspondence to Rafael Aránguiz.

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Aránguiz, R., Shibayama, T. & Yamazaki, Y. Tsunamis from the Arica-Tocopilla source region and their effects on ports of Central Chile. Nat Hazards 71, 175–202 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0906-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0906-5

Keywords

  • 1877 Iquique tsunami
  • Central Chile
  • Shelf resonance
  • Tsunami forecast model
  • Bay of Concepción