Abstract

The 2007 Aysen earthquake, of magnitude Mw 6.2, was a shallow crustal earthquake in the large, regional Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault Zone. It triggered a total of 541 landslides (reported) classified as rock slides and avalanches, rock falls, shallow soil and soil-rock slides, and debris flows. The largest landslides induced a local tsunami in the Aysen fjord, causing severe damage to aquaculture facilities and ten fatalities along the fjord coast. The 2010 Maule earthquake, of magnitude Mw 8.8, was the second largest subduction earthquake to have occurred in Chile, after the 1960 Valdivia earthquake (Mw 9.5). The Maule earthquake was followed by a destructive tsunami that affected an extensive area, causing significant damage. This earthquake and tsunami caused more than 500 deaths, and an economic loss close to 20% of the GDP of Chile. The damage was partly attributed to ground failure. Among the most significant effects associated with ground failure were the liquefaction of soils and landslides. The triggering of liquefaction caused the failure of urban, civil, and industrial infrastructures such as buildings, bridges, ports, and mining facilities. Liquefaction cases were reported even in locations far away from the rupture area. Likewise, 1160 landslides were induced, including rock falls, rock, and soil slides. Over 800 landslides were observed in areas with lower shaking intensities, occurring in clusters. This paper presents the earthquake-induced damage related to the liquefaction and landslides cases reported after these seismic events. In the case of the coseismic landslides, a significant difference is found in the number of landslides generated by subduction earthquakes and shallow crustal earthquakes, a critical point to consider in future seismic landslide hazard analyses.