LUIS VALENZUELA P, RAMON VERDUGO A, JOSE CAMPANA Z & CARMEN G OPAZO A


Figure 2. Typical acceleration records of intraplate earthquake (Tarapacá, 2005)


Figure 3. Typical acceleration records of interplate earthquake (Maule, 2010)


Since 1850, when the first large dams (height above 15m) began to be constructed in Chile, an important number of destructive earthquakes have struck the country and its infrastructure. A list of earthquakes of magnitude M ≥ 7.5 which have occurred in Chile since 1850 are summarized in Table 1, and their respective epicentres are plotted in Figure 4.


In the case of earthquakes which occurred before 1979, the Richter Magnitude is


informed, whereas for those which occurred after, the Moment Magnitude Mw is reported. An exception is the Valdivia Mega-Earthquake which occurred in 1960 for which moment


magnitude is reported (Mw = 9.5). The magnitude of the earthquakes that occurred at the beginning of the last century has been estimated based on the extension of the affected area and the level of damage. It is observed that Chilean territory has been continuously affected by strong seismic events, which implies that all Chilean dams have also been subjected to strong seismic demands. The high seismic activity of Chile is reflected by the presence of two large earthquakes in the list of the world’s top 10 earthquakes: the Valdivia earthquake and the Maule earthquake.


188 DAM ENGINEERING


Vol XXXI Issue 3


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