Chile quake moves city 3 meters

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Preliminary measurements show the 8.8-magnitude quake which struck Chile last month shifted the entire city of Concepcion more than three meters to the west, and some other cities of South America were also displaced more or less, according to media reports Tuesday.

Researchers from four universities and several agencies gathered readings at 25 GPS locator stations set up prior to the major quake and then compared them to readings taken 10 days later to come up with their preliminary numbers.

"By reoccupying the existing GPS stations, CAP can determine the displacements, or 'jumps,' that occurred during the earthquake," said Mike Bevis, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University.

"By building new stations, the project can monitor the postseismic deformations that are expected to occur for many years, giving us new insights into the physics of the earthquake process," he added.

The results show the Chilean city of Concepcion shifted 3 meters (10 feet) to the west. Chile's capital Santiago was displaced about 27.7 centimeters (11 inches) to the west-southwest. And Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, moved about 4 centimeters (1.5 inches) to the west. And significant displacements were recorded as far away as the Falkland Islands and Fortaleza.