The massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck the west coast of Chile last month moved the entire city of Concepcion at least 10 feet to the west, research has found.
The power of the earthquake, which is estimated to have killed more than 800 people, shifted other parts of South America from the Falkland Islands to Fortaleza, Brazil.
The preliminary measurements, produced from data gathered by researchers from four universities and several agencies, including geophysicists on the ground in Chile, show that Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina moved about 1 inch to the west.
Chile's capital, Santiago, moved about 11 inches to the west-southwest. The cities of Valparaiso and Mendoza, Argentina, northeast of Concepcion, also moved significantly.
The research team worked out the movements by comparing precise GPS (global positioning satellite) locations prior to the major earthquake to those almost 10 days later.To read full London Telegraph story — Go Here Now.
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