A recent British study revealed that the largest earthquake in human history was recorded in the northern region of Chile, and it occurred 3800 years ago.
According to the “United Press International” agency, the earthquake was of 9.5 degrees, and the latest tsunami was very wide, which swamped countries as far away as New Zealand.
The source stated that the earthquake, which was recorded thousands of years ago, was so severe that the tsunami wave carried rocks the size of cars.
The study on the ancient earthquake was issued by researchers at the University of Southampton in Britain, and was recently published in the journal “Science Advances”.
Since an earthquake occurs when two tectonic plates are in contact, the presence of a larger crack is an indication of a stronger earthquake, which scientists have revealed.
James Gough, one of the researchers involved in the study, said that a strong earthquake in northern Chile was unlikely, given that there was no major fault in the area.
Prior to this study, the most powerful earthquake in history was a magnitude 9.5 earthquake, recorded in the southern Chilean region in 1960.
In that earthquake, a fault point of about 990 km was detected along the coast of the country, according to a study issued by the US Geological Survey, a US scientific agency.
It is estimated that the earthquake killed between 1,655 and 5,700 people, injured 3,000 others, and displaced two million people, as well as causing material losses equivalent to about $550 million.
As for the fault caused by the newly discovered earthquake, it is more than 1,000 kilometers long, off the Atacama Desert, “and it’s a very huge length,” according to researcher Gough, indicating a stronger earthquake than what was recorded in 1960.
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