December 25, 2016 Tsunami: Southern Chile

The earthquake in Chiloe generated an instrumental tsunami in the coasts of Los Lagos Region, which spread though the Gulf of Corcovado and the oceanic area of the region. The spreading of the tsunami was monitored by the National Tsunami Warning System (SNAM) through the SAVTEC software from the moment the earthquake hit. The tsunami waves were recorded in the Melinka Station in the south and up to Bahia Mansa in the north (Images 8 to 11), while the rest of the stations in the national network showed no records of the tsunami. The first wave arrival was registered in the Melinka Station at approximately 11:49 Local Time (14:24 UTC), 27 minutes after the earthquake. The Castro station recorded it at 13:24 LT (16:24 UTC), Ancud at 14:04 LT (17:04 UTC) and Bahia Mansa at 15:39 LT (18:39 UTC), respectively. In table 2 the observed arrival times in the national network of sea level stations. Table 3 shows a summary of the maximum and minimum amplitudes recorded during the activation of the SNAM before a tsunami alert and its respective times. The maximum amplitude recorded was 0.44m in the Castro Station at 15:26 local time, while periods varied between 62 and 111 minutes associated to the Bahía Manda and Melinka Stations, respectively. (reference #11846)