Abstract
Whereas the coast of Peru south of 10°S is historically accustomed to tsunamigenic earthquakes, the subduction zone north of 10°S has been relatively quiet. On 21 February 1996 at 21:51 GMT (07:51 local time) a large, tsunamigenic earthquake (Harvard estimate M w =7.5) struck at 9.6°S, 79.6°W, approximately 130 km off the northern coast of Peru, north of the intersection of the Mendana fracture zone with the Peru-Chile trench. The likely mechanism inferred from seismic data is a low-angle thrust consistent with subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American plate, with relatively slow rupture characteristics. Approximately one hour after the main shock, a damaging tsunami reached the Peruvian coast, resulting in twelve deaths. We report survey measurements, from 7.7°S to 11°S, on maximum runup (2–5 m, between 8 and 10°S), maximum inundation distances, which exceeded 500 m, and tsunami sediment deposition patterns. Observations and numerical simulations show that the hydrodynamic characteristics of this event resemble those of the 1992 Nicaragua tsunami. Differences in climate, vegetation and population make these two tsunamis seem more different than they were. This 1996 Chimbote event was the first large (M W>7) subduction-zone (interplate) earthquake between about 8 and 10°S, in Peru, since the 17th century, and bears resemblance to the 1960 (M w 7.6) event at 6.8°S. Together these two events are apparently the only large subduction-zone earthquakes in northern Peru since 1619 (est. latitude 8°S, est. M w 7.8); these two tsunamis also each produced more fatalities than any other tsunami in Peru since the 18th century. We concur with Pelayo and Wiens (1990, 1992) that this subduction zone, in northern Peru, resembles others where the subduction zone is only weakly coupled, and convergence is largely aseismic. Subduction-zone earthquakes, when they occur, are slow, commonly shallow, and originate far from shore (near the tip of the wedge). Thus they are weakly felt, and the ensuing tsunamis are unanticipated by local populations. Although perhaps a borderline case, the Chimbote tsunami clearly is another wake-up example of a “tsunami earthquake.”
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abe, KA. (1979), Size of Great Earthquakes of 1873-1974 Inferred from Tsunami Data, J. Geophys. Res. 84, 1561–1568.
Abe, KA. (1981), Physical Size of Tsunamigenic Earthquakes of the Northwestern Pacific, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 27, 194–205.
Abe, KA. (1996), Tsunami Magnitude of the 21 February 1996 Peru Event; E-mail communication via the tsunami bulletin board.
Abe, KU., Abe, KA., Tsuji, Y., Imamura, F., Katao, H., Iio, Y., Satake, K., Bourgeois, J., Noguera, E., and Estrada, F. (1993), Field Survey of the Nicaragua Earthquake and Tsunami of September 2, 1992, Bull. Earthq. Res. Inst., Univ. of Tokyo 68, 23–70.
Atlas del Peru (1989), Chief editor, Carlos Penaherrera del Aguila; published by the Instituto Geografico Nacional.
Beck, S. L., and Ruff, L. J. (1989), Great Earthquakes and Subduction along the Peru Trench, Phys. Earth Planet. Interiors 57, 199–224.
Chauchat, C., Early hunter gatherers on the Peruvian coast. In Peruvian Prehistory (Keating, R. W., ed.) (Cambridge Univ. Press 1987) pp. 41–66.
Carbonel, H. C., and Aguije, CH. (1989), Sobre el peligro de inudacion por maremotos en las costas de Lima y Ancash, Informe tecnico, Inst. Geof. de Peru.
Dewey, J. F., and Lamb, S. H. (1992), Active Tectonics of the Andes, Tectonophysics 205, 79–95.
De Vries, T. J. (1988), The Geology of Marine Terraces (tablazos) of Northwest Peru, J. South American Earth Sci. 1(2), 121–136.
Dorbath, L., Cisternas, A., and Dorbath, C. (1990), Assessment of the Size of Large and Great Historical Earthquakes of Peru, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 80(3), 551–576.
Ekström, G, and Salganik, G. (1996), Harvard CMT Solution for 21 Feb. 96 Earthquake off the Coast of Northern Peru (via Internet).
Hasegawa, A., and Sacks, I. S. (1981), Subduction of Nazca Plate Beneath Peru as Determined by Seismic Observations, J. Geophys. Res. 86, 4971–4980.
Heinrich, P., Schindele, F., and Guibourg, S. (1998), Modeling of the February 1996 Peruvian Tsunami, Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 2687–2690.
Hsu, J. T., Leonard, E. M., and Wehmiller, J. F. (1989), Aminostratigraphy of Peruvian and Chilean Quaternary Marine Terraces,Quat. Sci. Rev. 8, 255–262.
Kanamori, H. (1972), Mechanism of Tsunami Earthquakes, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 6, 246–259.
Kuroiwa, J. (1995), Tsunamis: Population Evacuation and Land Use Planning for Disaster Mitigation, Localities Studied in Peru (1981-1994), U.N. International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction Publication (original in Spanish; revised by D. Zupka, translated by C. V. Schneider), 46 pp.
Langer, C. J., and Spence, W. (1995), The 1974 Peru Earthquake Series, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 85(3), 665–687.
Lindo, R., Dorbath, C., Cisternas, A., Dorbath, L., Ocola, L., and Morales, M. (1992), Subduction Geometry in Central Peru from a Microseismicity Survey: First Results, Tectonophysics 205, 23–29.
Lockridge, P. A. (1985), Tsunamis in Peru-Chile, World Data Center A for Solid Earth Geophysics Report SE-39, 97 pp.
Lomnitz, C. (1970), Major Earthquakes and Tsunamis in Chile during the Period 1535 to 1955, Geolog. Rundsch. 59, 938–960.
Machare and Ortlieb (1992), Plio-Quaternary Vertical Motions and the Subduction of the Nazca Ridge, Central Coast of Peru,Tectonophysics 205, 97–108.
Newman, A. V., and Okal, E. A. (1996), Source Slowness of the February 21, 1996 Chimbote Earthquake Studied from Teleseismic Energy Estimates, EOS 77(17), S184.
Norabuena, E., Snoke, J. A., and James, D. E. (1994), Structure of the Subducting Nazca Plate beneath Peru, J. Geophys. Res. 99, 9215–9226.
Norabuena, E., Leffler-Griffe N, L., Mao, A., Dixon, T., Stein, S., Sacks, I. S., Ocola, L., and Ellis, M. (1998), Space Geodetic Observations of the Nazca-South America Convergence across the Central Andes, Science 279, 358–362.
Ocala, L. C., Effects of February 21, 1996, Chimbote tsunami. In Modern Preparation and Response for Earthquake, Tsunami and Volcanic Hazards, International Conference 27-30 April, 1998 (Santiago, Chile 1998) 267 pp.
Okal, E. A. (1988), Seismic Parameters Controlling Far-field Tsunami Amplitudes: A Review, Natural Hazards 1, 67–96.
Pelayo, A. M., and Wiens, D. A. (1990), The November 20, I960 Peru Tsunami Earthquake: Source Mechanism of a Slow Event, Geophys. Res. Lett. 17, 661–664.
Pelayo, A. M., and Wiens, D. A. (1992), Tsunami Earthquakes: Slow Thrust-faulting Events in the Accretionary Wedge, J. Geophys. Res. 97,15, 321–15,337.
Satake, K., Bourgeois, J., Abe, KU., Abe, KA., Tsuji, Y., Imamura, F., Iio, Y., Katao, H., Noguera, E., and Estrada, F. (1993), Field Survey of the Nicaragua Earthquake and Tsunami of September 2, 1992, EOS, Trans. AGU 74,145 and 156–157.
Satake, K., and Imamura, F., eds. (1995), Tsunamis 1992-94, Pure appl. geophys. 144(3/4).
Silgado, E. (1978), Historia de los sismos mas notables ocurridos en el Peru (1513-1974), Inst. Geol. Min., Lima, 131 pp.
Stoker, J. J., Water Waves (Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York 1957) 567 pp.
Swenson, J. L., and Beck, S. L. (1996), Historical 1942 Ecuador and 1942 Peru Subduction Earthquakes, and Earthquake Cycles along Colombia-Ecuador and Peru Subduction Segments, Pure appl. geophys. 146(1), 67–101.
Synolakis, C. E., Liu, P., Carrier, G., and Yeh, H. (1997), Tsunamigenic Sea-floor Deformations, Science 278, 598–600.
Titov, V. V., and Synolakis, C. E., A numerical study of the 9/1/92 Nicaraguan Tsunami, Proceedings of the IUGG/IOC International Tsunami Symposium, Wakayama, Japan. (Japan Soc. Civil Engineers 1993) pp. 585–598.
Titov, V. V., and Synolakis, C. E. (1997),Extreme Inundation Flows during the Hokkaido-Nansei-Oki Tsunami, Geoph. Res. Lett. 24(11), 1315–1318.
Titov, V. V., and Synolakis, C. E. (1998), Numerical Modeling of Tidal Wave Runup, J. Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering 124(4), 157–171.
Tushingham, A. M., and Peltier, W. R. (1991), Ice-3G: A New Global Model of Late Pleistocene Deglaciation Based Upon Geophysical Prediction of Post-glacial Relative Sea Level Change, J. Geophys. Res. 96, 4497–4523.
Wells, L. E. (1990), Hupolocene History of the El Nino Phenomenon as Recorded in Flood Sediments of Northern Coastal Peru, Geology 18, 1134–1137.
Wells, L. E. (1996), The Santa Beach Ridge Complex: Sea-level and Progradational History of an Open Gravel Coast in Central Peru, J. Coastal Res. 12(1), 1–17.
Wells, L. E., De Vries, T. J., and Quinn, W. H. (1987), Driftwood Deposits of the 1618 A. D. Tsunami, Northern Coastal Peru, Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr. w. Programs, 19(7), 885.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer Basel AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bourgeois, J. et al. (1999). Geologie Setting, Field Survey and Modeling of the Chimbote, Northern Peru, Tsunami of 21 February 1996. In: Sauber, J., Dmowska, R. (eds) Seismogenic and Tsunamigenic Processes in Shallow Subduction Zones. Pageoph Topical Volumes. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8679-6_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8679-6_7
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel
Print ISBN: 978-3-7643-6146-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-8679-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive