earthquakes widespread on our planet and has already affected many countries throughout the history of mankind. However, do you know what was the biggest of all, and its damage? Archaeologists from the University of Southampton in England have discovered the title holder: tremor magnitude up to 9.6 on the Richter scale occurred in Chile a long time ago.

What has been called a “megaquake” caused a lot of damage at the time it happened, and as usual, an accompanying 8,000-kilometer tsunami followed soon after, the researchers said. The study was published in the scientific journal Science Advances.

The earthquake, recorded in what is now northern Chile, had “debris” at least 3,800 years old and occurred after a tectonic plate shook the coastal region. The ensuing giant wave was so strong that it reached New Zealand and threw car-sized rocks absurd distances.

The gap caused by the shock is over 1,000 km long and surprised the scientists responsible for the study, as the previous record holder peaked at 800 km.

“It used to be thought that there could not be an event of this magnitude in the north of the country simply because it seemed impossible for us to have a long gap of this type,” he commented. James Goffone of the authors of the study and a geologist at the University of Southampton, reports Digital Look.

“We not only found evidence of sediments and fossils of marine animals that lived peacefully in the sea before they were thrown away, but we also found all of this at very high points and deep ‘inside’ the continent.”

“There was no way they could get there because of a normal storm,” Goff added.

Evidence has been found in the Atacama Desert.

The evidence cited by the researcher was found in the coastal region of the city of Atacama Desertan impressive place where debris was thrown during an earthquake.

The age of objects found in this region – 600 km from the coast in northern Chile – is determined using carbon-14 identification and is 3800 years old.

Of course, this event also affected the people who lived there. According to Goff, the damage to the population stretched over many years, and not just during the earthquake.

“The local population was left with nothing,” the scientist said. “Our work has found signs that this event was followed by massive social upheaval as communities moved inland, away from the reach of the tsunami.”

“It took about 1,000 years for humans to return to the coast to establish new settlements, which is quite a long time considering they depended on the sea for food,” Goff concluded.

Google: Android smartphones will act as an earthquake warning network
Google smartphones will be equipped with a built-in shock warning function, as well as help detect them.

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Source: Olhar Digital