Coasts of Chile hit by new earthquake
Photo by Esteban Maldonado (image source: Wikimedia Commons)
The American Institute of Geophysics (USGC) stated that a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6 (MMS) hit parts of the Chilean coasts earlier today. The earthquake occurred a little past 8 am local time. The epicenter was located 67 miles (108 kilometers) north of Concepcion and 222 miles (357 kilometer) southwest of the capital Santiago. So far no tsunami alert has been declared.
To measure the strength of an earthquake, the USGS does not use the Richter scale, but instead uses the moment magnitude scale. Seismologists use the moment magnitude scale to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The scale was first developed in the 1970s to succeed the 1930s-era Richter Magnitude Scale. The MMS is now the scale used to estimate magnitudes for all modern large earthquakes by the USGC.
Just recently, on February 27, Chile was shaken by a severe earthquake with a magnitude of 8,8 on the Richter Scale. About 500 people were killed and to date hundreds remain missing.
By Murielle Ungricht
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Tags: American Institute of Geophysics, Chile earthquake, MMS, moment magnitude scale, Richter scale, seismologists, USGC
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