THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE 27 FEBRUARY 2010 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE EARTHQUAKE

The 27 February 2010 Offshore Maule Chile earthquake is one of the most significant seismic and earthquake engineering events for many reasons but especially for the study of the dynamic behaviour of tall buildings Because the earthquake occurred on a subduction zone where the convergence of the Nazca plate with the South American plate occurs there are similarities to large areas of North America with similar conditions such as the Cascadia subduction zone extending from Northern California to British Columbia major metropolitan areas that could be affected by the Cascadia subduction zone include Portland OR Seattle WA and Vancouver BC The abundance of tall buildings in Chile particularly in Santiago, Vina del Mar and Concepcion allow for significant case histories into the behaviour of tall buildings in Chile a country that has similar design and construction practices to the USA where there is also an abundance of tall buildings in major population areas Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons Ltd