Earthquakes in Iquique: Chile's Former Seismic Gap

Yes, Iquique is a very high earthquake-risk zone. Located in the Tarapacá region of northern Chile, it sits on one of the most closely watched stretches of coastline in the world, because of its enormous seismic potential and the associated tsunami risk to its densely populated shoreline.

Chile's far north sits above the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate, the same boundary that has produced the largest earthquakes ever recorded on the planet. For decades, the segment off Iquique was known as a seismic gap: an area that had not released a major earthquake since the 1877 event and had therefore been accumulating a critical amount of stress. This made the city a permanent subject of study.

On 1 April 2014, the Iquique earthquake struck, magnitude 8.2, followed by a 7.7 aftershock and a tsunami warning that forced evacuation of the coast. Despite the enormous magnitude, public preparedness and warning systems limited casualties. Experts warn, however, that this earthquake did not release all the accumulated energy in the segment, so northern Chile remains one of the regions with the highest probability of a future major earthquake.