What Causes Earthquakes in Chile

Chile is a hotspot for earthquakes because the Nazca plate, a tectonic plate which moves eastwards with a rate of 6.6 cm per year, collides with the South American plate off the Chilean coast. … For example, the plates shifted by more than 30 meters in the 1960 earthquake.

Why does Chile get so many earthquakes?

Chile is located on a tectonic plate boundary and a subduction zone called the Peru-Chile trench. A subduction zone is where the ocean crust slides under the continental margin which causes compressional deformation (mountain building), earthquakes and volcanoes.

What plate boundary causes earthquakes in Chile?

Earthquake Information The earthquake occurred on the boundary between the South American and Nazca tectonic plates that runs down the west coast of Chile and has also resulted in the formation of the Andes.