Seismologists from France and Chile were able to predict which region in the coming decades will undergo one of the most devastating earthquakes. According to researchers, the strongest earthquake will occur in the Chilean capital of Chile Santiago. The findings of scientists were published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

The reason for the earthquake is the submersion of the Nazca oceanic plate beneath the South American plate. At the moment this process occurs at a speed of about eight centimeters per year, but in the Santiago region it is inhibited due to friction between lithospheric plates. Thus, a lag in the depth of submersion of the oceanic crust under the continental one is 4.5 meters, which is compensated every seventy years as a result of the strongest earthquakes. Despite the fact that the area of ??distribution will affect the capital of Chile, the epicenter of the earthquake will be on the city of Valparaiso, located a hundred kilometers from Santiago.

The probability of an earthquake this year, scientists estimate about 3%, but over time, the risks will grow.

Earlier, scientists came to the conclusion that the deepest earthquakes can turn out to be seasonal phenomena. According to scientists, the seasonal trend is not observed for small earthquakes or small tremors. Seasonal are earthquakes, a magnitude higher than 7 points and occurring at a depth of more than 500 kilometers. The reason for this behavior of earthquakes scientists can not explain.