Observe devastation wrought by the Chile earthquake of 1960
Learn about the Chile earthquake of 1960 from this contemporary newsreel.
Universal Studios
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.John P. Rafferty, biological and earth science editor of Encyclopædia Britannica, discussing the connection between Earth's tectonic plates and earthquake development.
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Transcript
[Music]
ED HERLIHY: The torment of a nation. Chile, its southern half devastated day after day by volcanic eruptions and earth shocks of cataclysmic force, which spread havoc around the entire rim of the Pacific Ocean. Thousands are dead. One quarter of the nation, over two million, homeless, and still the upheavals continue. Whole cities have been reduced to shambles.
In the ruins life goes on. Aid is pouring in, including two complete United States Army field hospitals. In a year marked by tragic earthquakes, Chile's has been felt over the greatest area by far. One of the worst earthquakes of modern times.
Mountainous tidal waves, triggered by the Chilean earthshocks, raced across the Pacific at 500 miles an hour. Every Pacific island felt their colossal forces. On Hawaii 6,000 miles distant, 60 are dead or missing. And damage in the Hilo area may reach $60 million.
Across the vast expanse of ocean the tidal wave took a heavy toll. Along the California coast, it swept in at an angle, ripping coastal installations and causing heavy damages. Japan and Okinawa felt the impact cruelly, their dead or missing number in the hundreds. Property damage in the hundreds of billions. Nineteen sixty emerges as the most disastrous earthquake year of modern times, with more than 18,000 lives lost and the year not halfway out.
ED HERLIHY: The torment of a nation. Chile, its southern half devastated day after day by volcanic eruptions and earth shocks of cataclysmic force, which spread havoc around the entire rim of the Pacific Ocean. Thousands are dead. One quarter of the nation, over two million, homeless, and still the upheavals continue. Whole cities have been reduced to shambles.
In the ruins life goes on. Aid is pouring in, including two complete United States Army field hospitals. In a year marked by tragic earthquakes, Chile's has been felt over the greatest area by far. One of the worst earthquakes of modern times.
Mountainous tidal waves, triggered by the Chilean earthshocks, raced across the Pacific at 500 miles an hour. Every Pacific island felt their colossal forces. On Hawaii 6,000 miles distant, 60 are dead or missing. And damage in the Hilo area may reach $60 million.
Across the vast expanse of ocean the tidal wave took a heavy toll. Along the California coast, it swept in at an angle, ripping coastal installations and causing heavy damages. Japan and Okinawa felt the impact cruelly, their dead or missing number in the hundreds. Property damage in the hundreds of billions. Nineteen sixty emerges as the most disastrous earthquake year of modern times, with more than 18,000 lives lost and the year not halfway out.