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troutman · 09-17-2015, 09:37 AM

The West Coast of South America must be especially at risk?

The continent rises straight up from the Pacific to the peaks of the Andes. Not much of a shelf.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_shelf

The width of the continental shelf varies considerably – it is not uncommon for an area to have virtually no shelf at all, particularly where the forward edge of an advancing oceanic plate dives beneath continental crust in an offshore subduction zone such as off the coast of Chile

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subduction

Nine out of the ten largest earthquakes to occur in the last century were subduction zone events. This includes the 1960 Great Chilean Earthquake, which at M 9.5 was the largest earthquake ever recorded

09-17-2015, 09:37 AM	#8
troutman Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Crowsnest Pass Exp:	The West Coast of South America must be especially at risk? The continent rises straight up from the Pacific to the peaks of the Andes. Not much of a shelf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_shelf The width of the continental shelf varies considerably – it is not uncommon for an area to have virtually no shelf at all, particularly where the forward edge of an advancing oceanic plate dives beneath continental crust in an offshore subduction zone such as off the coast of Chile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subduction Nine out of the ten largest earthquakes to occur in the last century were subduction zone events. This includes the 1960 Great Chilean Earthquake, which at M 9.5 was the largest earthquake ever recorded Last edited by troutman; 09-17-2015 at 09:45 AM.