Posted on Sunday 2 January 2005 to unknown

Oblivious

The article contains a number of interesting first-hand accounts including the 1960 quake, the largest in the 20th century with a magnitude of 9.6, The event occurred on the subduction zone just off Chile near Concepcion.

Then, suddenly, they noted that the sea was beginning to retreat from the shores, exposing the ocean floor to distances well beyond the lowest tides. When this happened, the fire alarms were sounded, and firemen and carabineros systematically went through the streets warning everyone of the impending danger. The people fled afoot and on horseback to the hills and waited. Those on horseback made repeated trips to save the old and infirm. After 15 to 30 minutes, the sea returned, advancing upon the shore in a wave that was in places over 20 feet high. The wave rushed over the land, covering and carrying away the houses, killing the animals that could not be evacuated, and carrying off some of the people who, for one reason or another, had not left their homes...In several villages along the southern coast, such as Carelmapu...the mariscadores, or shellfish collectors, took advantage of the recession of the sea to wander over the exposed sea floor collecting shellfish in their baskets. When they had collected more than the usual quantity of mussels and locos, they returned to the shore, climbed up on the hills, and waited for the water to return. The waves continued all afternoon...A group of mapuchis or Araucanian Indians sacrificed a seven-year-old boy to the gods of the sea to calm the remorseless surf.

P. Saint-Amand, 1961
Los Terremotos De Mayo-Chile