The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake at a depth of 223 km in Eduardo Abaroa Province, Bolivia, slightly before 6.40 am local time (slightly before 10.40 am on Thursday 5 September 2024. Quakes at this depth are seldom dangerous, but are often felt over a wide area, and this one was reportedly felt on the coast of northern Chile.
Bolivia is located close to the west coast of South America, which is also the convergent margin between the Nazca and South American Plates. The Nazca Plate is being subducted beneath the South American Plate and is sinking beneath the South American Plate. This is not a smooth process, the rocks of the two plates continuously stick together then, as the pressure builds up, break apart again, causing Earthquakes. As the Nazca Plate sinks deeper it is partially melted by the friction and the heat of the Earth's interior. Some of the melted material then rises up through the overlying South American Plate as magma, fuelling the volcanoes of the Bolivian Andes.
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