08/11/2021 11:20 AM
Clarín.com
Dresses
Updated 08/11/2021 11:20 AM
The central coast of Peru
is the area of the South American Pacific where a
mega earthquake
of magnitude
8.9
could give rise to the highest tsunami, according to a Chilean study whose simulations show a flood margin between
25 and 45 meters
for this place
.
In Chile, the simulations yielded the worst scenarios for the northern sectors of Arica and Iquique, where tsunamis
would exceed 30 meters in height
, in the first case, and would be between
35 and 40 meters,
in the second.
Scientists determined that a mega-earthquake of magnitude 8.9 could give rise to the huge tsunami (AP).
The Chilean city of
Valparaíso
, on the central coast, would suffer tsunamis of between 30 and 35 meters, abounds in the study, developed by researchers from the Seismic Risk Program of the University of Chile and recently published in the journal
Pure and Applied Geophysics.
In Ecuador,
a maximum wave height of 25 meters is calculated for a scenario with an earthquake of magnitude 8.6;
while in the case of
Colombia, in the
face of a possible 8.7 earthquake, a maximum wave height of 20 meters is calculated.
Big earthquakes are expected
The work came up with these results after analyzing eight areas of the western fringe of the continent in which major earthquakes are expected because there were in the past, but where
they have not occurred for a long time.
In each of them, specifically in the areas Colombia;
Ecuador-Colombia;
north, center and south of Peru;
and north, north-central and central Chile, the research simulated the maximum expected tsunami through
200 probable scenarios in each place.
Image of the 2011 tsunami in Japan (Reuters).
The research proposes that the levels of flooding caused by tsunamis vary according to the area and depend, in addition to the magnitude of the seismic movement, on factors such as the slope on the coast and geographical features.
Through a statement, the study authors emphasized that these results are quite close to the scenarios that could occur in reality, especially considering as a reference
the 2011 Japan earthquake,
where the subsequent tsunami exceeded 40 meters Tall.
The central coast of Peru is the most exposed area (AP).
"This was clearly applied work, which can be very useful for public policy on risk and disaster prevention," said researcher Sebastián Riquelme.
In this sense, the study stated among its conclusions that the 30 meters of general protection that have been adopted in Chile as a security measure against these events are not enough.
EFE Agency.
GML