A 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit Chile on Monday night (25). According to the German Geosciences Research Center (GFZ), the epicenter was close to the city of Calama, in the Atacama Desert, but residents of São Paulo and Paraná also reported feeling the tremor.
The GFZ reported that the earthquake occurred at a depth of 89 km, while the USP (University of São Paulo) Seismology Center states that the depth was 101 km.
The USP center has a tool through which it is possible to report when an earthquake is felt. After the earthquake in Chile, the platform received several reports from residents of cities in Paraná and São Paulo.
“It felt like I was in a boat, rocking back and forth,” says one of the messages. “I was sitting, I felt the chair and door shaking. I also felt dizzy,” said another person.
On social media, people who felt the earthquake in Brazil also shared reports. “Is it just me or did it send a tremor through São Paulo?”, wrote one person. “I felt shaking in Cajamar”, reported another person on X.
The Brazilian Seismographic Network explained in a note that it is possible for earthquakes that occur in Chile to reverberate in Brazil: “Earthquakes that occur in the Andes, like the one registered in Chile, depending on the magnitude and depth, can be felt in São Paulo. This occurs because São Paulo is in a sedimentary basin that has the characteristic of amplifying seismic waves.”
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The institute explained that those in neighborhoods or tall buildings are more likely to feel the tremor. And he adds: “Despite the scare, it is very unlikely that this earthquake caused any structural damage in the city of São Paulo.”
*With information from Reuters.
