The 1 April 2014 Iquique, Chile, M w 8.1 earthquake rupture sequence

On 1 April 2014, a great ( M w 8.1) interplate thrust earthquake ruptured in the northern portion of the 1877 earthquake seismic gap in northern Chile. The sequence commenced on 16 March 2014 with a magnitude 6.7 thrust event, followed by thrust‐faulting aftershocks that migrated northward ~40 km over 2 weeks to near the main shock hypocenter. Guided by short‐period teleseismic P wave backprojections and inversion of deepwater tsunami wave recordings, a finite‐fault inversion of teleseismic P and SH waves using a geometry consistent with long‐period seismic waves resolves a spatially compact large‐slip (~2–6.7 m) zone located ~30 km downdip and ~30 km along‐strike south of the hypocenter, downdip of the foreshock sequence. The main shock seismic moment is 1.7 × 10 21  N m with a fault dip of 18°, radiated seismic energy of 4.5–8.4 × 10 16  J, and static stress drop of ~2.5 MPa. Most of the 1877 gap remains unbroken and hazardous.