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International audience; We study the 2020 ${{\rm{M}}_{\rm{W}}}$ 6.8 Calama earthquake sequence that occurred within the subducting oceanic Nazca plate. The mainshock is modeled via waveform inversion using a dynamic rupture model, while detection and location techniques are used to better characterize its aftershock sequence. We analyze the local seismotectonic and thermal context of the subducting Nazca plate to understand the trigger mechanism of this earthquake and how it compares with other significant earthquakes in the vicinity. The stress drop and the related dynamic rupture parameters of the Calama mainshock are similar to those of the nearby 2007 ${{\rm{M}}_{\rm{W}}}$ 6.8 Michilla and 2015 ${{\rm{M}}_{\rm{W}}}$ 6.7 Jujuy intraslab earthquakes, which occurred to the west (trenchwards) and to the east (under the back-arc) of the Calama earthquake, respectively. The sequences of these three events were located using a 3-D tomographic velocity model. While the Michilla earthquake sequence occurred within the oceanic crust at temperatures of ~250°C, the Calama sequence occurred within the upper lithospheric mantle at ~350°C and exhibited a smaller aftershock productivity than Michilla. Additionally, the 3-D tomographic model shows intermediate ${{\rm{V}}_{\rm{P}}}/{{\rm{V}}_{\rm{S}}}$ ratios (1.72-1.76) in the region of the Calama earthquake. This indicates a less hydrated environment that could be responsible for the smaller aftershock productivity of the Calama earthquake.

On 10 September, 2008, an Mw 5.7 earthquake occurred under the Central Valley of northern Chile near the town of Pica at a depth of ∼33 km within the continental crust of the South America plate. We find this earthquake to be a high stress-drop, reverse-oblique event that generated unusually high ground accelerations of up to 0.67g. Overall, its observed ground motion intensities are considerably larger than those predicted by ground motion models, particularly at short periods. The source properties inferred through waveform modeling indicate reverse-oblique fault motion on a ∼75 km2 plane dipping to the northeast, which is corroborated by the located aftershock distribution. Stress-drop values of the mainshock and larger aftershocks were estimated through S-wave spectrum modeling, with values up to ∼250 MPa for the mainshock. The event occurred in a cold section of the continental crust under the Central Valley, and its fault kinematics and orientation are consistent with the dominant style of faulting and stress field under the neighboring Coastal Cordillera. Although our recurrence analysis shows that crustal events in the region occur at a lower rate than interplate and inslab events, crustal events of similar or higher magnitude than the Pica earthquake have occurred, on average, approximately once every three years in northern Chile, which could pose an important hazard to nearby populations or critical infrastructure.

Foods fulfil social and nutritional functions. Knowing the meaning of foods is essential to understand the behavior towards them, especially when it comes to traditional foods. Two groups of people from Mezquital Valley and the Comarca Minera region in Hidalgo, Mexico, were interviewed through word association to find out what words they associated with the concept of "traditional food". The results were analyzed using the Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA). Through the LSA, nine dimensions were found for the Mezquital Valley and seven for the Comarca Minera region. These were further reduced to three defining dimensions shared between regions: Nutrition and nutritional quality, Territorial identity of a region, and Experiences derived from consumption. The Food Culture dimension was typical of the Mezquital Valley. Our findings suggest that LSA is suitable for the analysis of concepts and that regions have dimensions of their own geocultural context.