The earthquake struck in the ‘seismic gap’ of northern Chile, where the last major quake had occurred in 1877. Hayes et al. 16th May » 16 May 1877 crisis called May 1877 political crisis in France. Green focal mechanisms are W‐phase solutions for the M w =8.2 main shock and M w =7.7 aftershock. Green focal mechanisms are W‐phase solutions for the M w =8.2 main shock and M w =7.7 aftershock. 2014 Iquique earthquake. The 2014 Iquique earthquake sequence. 1 and Schurr et al. The location and mechanism of the quake are consistent with slip on the plate boundary between two major tectonic plates in South America, according to the US Geological Survey. 9th May » A 1877 Iquique earthquake named magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Peru kills 2,541, including some as far away as Hawaii and Japan.

Just better. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

A large earthquake had been expected in the subduction zone adjacent to northern Chile3,4,5,6, which had not ruptured in a megathrust earthquake since a M ∼8.8 event in 1877… Quite the same Wikipedia. The 2014 Iquique earthquake sequence. Near real-time analysis of the April 1 earthquake in Iquique, Chile, showed that the 8.2 event occurred in a gap on the fault unruptured since 1877 and that the April event was not what the scientists had expected, according to an international team of geologists. This pattern mirrors the 1877 Iquique earthquake, which occurred nine years after the 1868 Arica earthquake off the coast of southern Peru, thought to have been at least 8.5 in magnitude, Newman said. In other words, one big earthquake could increase the pressure in another part of the plate boundary, triggering another big earthquake years later. The Iquique earthquake occurred within this seismic gap, but was not nearly big enough to fill it. People stay on higher grounds in a tsunami safety zone after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit the northern port of Iquique, April 3, 2014.