Chile quake moved entire city 3 meters to west

The Chilean capital of Santiago also shifted 27.7 centimeters (11 inches) to the west, according to measurements.

CHICAGO, March 8, 2010 (AFP) - The massive earthquake which struck the west coast of Chile last month moved the entire city of Concepcion more than three meters (10 feet) to the west, scientists said Monday.

Preliminary measurements drawn from global positioning stations showed that Concepcion, Chile's second largest city, is now 3.04 meters further west than it was prior to the 8.8-magnitude quake which struck February 27.

It was the fifth most powerful quake recorded since instruments have been available to measure seismic shifts and there have been hundreds of aftershocks, several exceeding magnitude 6.0.

The Chilean capital of Santiago also shifted 27.7 centimeters (11 inches) to the west, according to measurements gathered by a team of Chilean and US scientists and released by Ohio State University.

On South America's east coast, Argentina's capital Buenos Aires moved nearly four centimeters (1.5 inches) to the west and significant displacements were recorded as far away as the Falkland Islands.