Summary : The big earthquake, magnitude 8.8 (MW), which took place on February 27 at 03:34 hrs. (local time) in the central zone of Chile, was the result of the sudden displacement of the Nazca Plate under the South American Plate in an area stretching from approximately the Arauco Peninsula in the south, to northern Pichilemu, some 450 km. in length in essentially a north-south direction, by around 150 km. in width. This contact zone between the Plates, whose surface expression is the trench located some 130 km. west of the coast, is located along the inclined plane that defines the fault area which caused the earthquake. The presentation will discuss some of the effects of the earthquake on the deformation of the Earth’s crust.