Talk:1877 Iquique earthquake

Countries affected

This article repeatedly refers to the earthquake as affecting Peru and Chile, with reference specifically to the modern Chilean regions of Tarapacá and Antofagasta. The infobox, on the other hand, refers to the damage primarily affecting Peru and Bolivia. This is presumably due to border changes resulting from the Atacama border dispute and War of the Pacific.

I've added a section on the earthquake's role in the build-up to the War of the Pacific, which explains the detail. But I believe that the article could do better in avoiding using borders anachronistically. To that end, does anyone know to what extent contemporary Chile (i.e. south of 24°S) was affected by the earthquake and tsunami? The book I've referenced for the WOTP section mentions damage in cities between Antofagasta (which was in Bolivia at the time) and Callao (Peru, then as now), but nothing on the Chilean side of the boder. If there wasn't any, would it not be better to change the lede to: [a] total of 2,541 people died, mainly in Peru and Bolivia, or alternatively, [a] total of 2,541 people died, mainly in what is now Peru and northernmost Chile, to allow for the fact that the borders have changed? Similarly in the Tectonic setting and Damage sections. Pfainuk talk 13:08, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

I've changed the lede, but I don't think that it makes sense to change the tectonic setting section, which I think should refer to the current situation for clarity. In the damage section, what do I call the Tarapaca and Antofagasta regions, did they have other names at the time? To answer another question, ref 7 gives 5 m tsunami heights at both Constitución and Chañaral, which shows that the effects were significant in parts of Chile at the time. Mikenorton (talk) 22:22, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks.

The modern regions of Chile only date back to 1974 (and were modified in 2007 to add a region centred on Arica). My understanding - which may be flawed - is that there were two former Peruvian provinces (Arica and Tarapacá) and one former Bolivian department (Litoral) taken by Chile. The modern regional borders between these three seem to roughly correspond to the then-existent borders (the modern Antofagasta region taking the place of the old Bolivian Litoral) though the southern border of Litoral would have been the international frontier at the 24th parallel, while the modern Antofagasta region goes a good deal further south than that. I'll note as an aside that the loss of their coastline remains a sore point for Bolivians today, so there is some potential for controversy here.

I think I'm looking at this from a bit more of a historical perspective than I think you are, and I'll happily go along with using modern boundaries if they make life easier for the readers - so long as it's clear which boundaries we're using. Pfainuk talk 17:17, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

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