1420 Caldera earthquake

{{Short description|Earthquake and tsunami in Chile}}

{{Infobox earthquake

|title= 1420 Caldera earthquake

|local-date= {{Start-date|31 August 1420}}

|map2 = {{Location map | Chile

| label=

| lat=-27.0

| long=-71.0

| mark=Bullseye1.png

| marksize=50

| position=top

| width= 150

| float=center

| caption=

| relief=yes}}

|pre-1900 = yes

|magnitude = 8.8–9.4 {{M|w|link=y}}

|depth=

|location={{Coord|-27.0|-71.0|type:event_region:CL|display=inline,title}}

|countries affected = Chile

|tsunami =yes

|casualties =

}}

The 1420 Caldera earthquake was a pre-Columbian earthquake that shook the southern portion of Atacama Desert in the early morning of 31 August 1420 and caused tsunamis in Chile as well as Hawaii and the towns of Japan. The earthquake is thought to have had a size of 8.8–9.4 {{M|w|link=yes}}.{{cite news |last=Guzmán |first=L. |date=February 14, 2019 |language=Spanish |title=Encuentran registros de megaterremoto ocurrido hace seis siglos en el norte de Chile |url=http://www.economiaynegocios.cl/noticias/noticias.asp?id=546452 |work=El Mercurio |location=Santiago, Chile |access-date=June 8, 2019}}{{cite journal |last1=Abad M. |last2=Izquierdo T. |last3=Cáceres M. |last4=Bernárdez E. |last5=Rodríguez-Vidal J. |year=2018 |title=Coastal boulder deposit as evidence of an ocean-wide prehistoric tsunami originated on the Atacama Desert coast (northern Chile) |journal=Sedimentology |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=1505–1528 |doi=10.1111/sed.12570 |s2cid=135386871}} Historical records of the tsunami exist for the Japanese harbours of Kawarago and Aiga where confused residents saw the water recede in the morning of 1 September, without any sign of an earthquake.{{Cite journal |last=Tsuji Y. |year=2013 |title=Catalog of Distant Tsunamis Reaching Japan from Chile and Peru |url=http://www.tsunami.civil.tohoku.ac.jp/hokusai3/J/publications/pdf2/vol.30_8.pdf |journal=Report of Tsunami Engineering |volume=30 |page=62 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320231746/http://www.tsunami.civil.tohoku.ac.jp/hokusai3/J/publications/pdf2/vol.30_8.pdf |archive-date=March 20, 2020}} In Chile, rockfalls occurred along the coast as well, producing blocks of up to 40 tons that are now found inland. This is also consistent with the identification of a possible tsunami deposit in Mejillones Bay that has been dated to the range 1409 to 1449.{{Cite journal |last1=Vargas |first1=G. |last2=Ortlieb |first2=L. |last3=Chapron |first3=E. |last4=Valdes |first4=J. |last5=Marquardt |first5=C. |date=2005 |title=Paleoseismic inferences from a high-resolution marine sedimentary record in northern Chile (23°S) |journal=Tectonophysics |volume=399 |issue=1–4 |pages=381–398 |doi=10.1016/j.tecto.2004.12.031 |bibcode=2005Tectp.399..381V}}{{Cite journal |last1=Ruiz |first1=S. |last2=Madariaga |first2=R. |date=2018 |title=Historical and recent large megathrust earthquakes in Chile |journal=Tectonophysics |volume=733 |pages=37–56 |doi=10.1016/j.tecto.2018.01.015 |bibcode=2018Tectp.733...37R}} Deposits found by coring of recent sediments in a wetland near Tongoy Bay have also been linked to the 1420 tsunami.{{Cite journal |last1=Araya |first1=K. |last2=Muñoz |first2=P. |last3=Dezileau |first3=L. |last4=Maldonado |first4=A. |last5=Campos-Caba |first5=R. |last6=Rebolledo |first6=L. |last7=Cardenas |first7=P. |last8=Salamanca |first8=M. |date=2022 |title=Extreme Sea Surges, Tsunamis and Pluvial Flooding Events during the Last ~1000 Years in the Semi-Arid Wetland, Coquimbo Chile |journal=Geosciences |volume=12 |issue=3 |page=135 |doi=10.3390/geosciences12030135 |bibcode=2022Geosc..12..135A |doi-access=free}}