Massive Chile Earthquake May Not Be the "Big One"
Scientists warn that the region has pent-up seismic energy along active faults.
A big earthquake of magnitude 8.2 shook the coast of northern Chile on Tuesday night, setting off small landslides and a small tsunami and killing at least five people. But scientists say the quake, while large, was not the "big one" that is predicted for the region.
"The big question is, is this a foreshock to an even bigger earthquake to come?" Rick Allmendinger asks. Allmendinger, a geologist who specializes in earthquake analysis at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, is a visiting professor at the Universidad Católica del Norte in Antofagasta, Chile.
"It probably has not released all of the stored-up energy on the subduction earthquake fault in northern Chile," he says. "For the sake of all of our friends
