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A Rare Case of Grass Flow Induced by the M8.4 Arequipa Earthquake, June 2001, in the Altiplano of Northern Chile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

José A. Naranjo  and
Jorge E. Clavero
José A. Naranjo*
Affiliation:
Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería-Chile, Avenue Santa María, 0104-Providencia, Santiago, Chile
Jorge E. Clavero
Affiliation:
Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería-Chile, Avenue Santa María, 0104-Providencia, Santiago, Chile
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +56 2 7379253. E-mail address:jnaranjo@sernageomin.cl (J.A. Naranjo), jclavero@sernageomin.cl (J.E. Clavero).
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Abstract

On June 23, 2001, an M8.4 earthquake that originated in southern Peru triggered the partial collapse of the Chislluma bofedal (water meadows) in the Altiplano (high-altitude plateau) of northern Chile. The seismic waves evidently produced the liquefaction of the bofedal and caused its partial collapse generating a flow. The flow deposit was mainly made of long-fiber grass and water, with minor amounts of clastic material. It traveled more than 14 km downstream at a peak velocity of 50 km/h. It destroyed the water meadows and killed more than 20 llamas. Slurry flows caused by meadow liquefaction are a previously unrecognized seismic-induced geological hazard for high-altitude plateau areas such as the Altiplano.

Keywords

Long-fiber grass flowLiquefactionOrganic soilInter-plate earthquakeHigh-altitude plateauAltiplanoAndes
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , September 2005 , pp. 242 - 248
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington

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