What caused the M 8.3 earthquake in Chile on September 16, 2015?

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A magnitude-8.3 earthquake struck offshore of Chile on September 16, 2015, at 22:54 UTC, with a depth of 25 km. The quake caused significant shaking in Santiago, prompting people to evacuate buildings and take refuge outdoors. Following the earthquake, strong aftershocks occurred, and a tsunami alert was issued for the entire Chilean coast, with warnings extending to Hawaii. Chile's emergency office anticipated that large waves could reach the coast by 11 p.m. local time. Tsunami forecasts indicated potential wave heights exceeding 3 meters along some Chilean coasts, while other regions, including French Polynesia and parts of New Zealand, were warned of waves between 0.3 to 3 meters. Reports confirmed that waves up to 4.5 meters impacted the city of Coquimbo, with flooding observed in coastal areas like Concon.
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my seismogram ... the surface waves are max'ing out the sensor

150916 2254UT M8.3 Chile zhi.gif
 
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11514540

A powerful magnitude-8.3 earthquake shook Chile's capital Santiago, causing buildings to sway and people to take refuge in the streets. Several strong aftershocks hit within minutes as tsunami alarms sounded in the nearby port of Valparaiso.

Chilean authorities issued a tsunami alert for the country's entire coast, and U.S. officials posted an alert for Hawaii. Chile's emergency office warned that big waves caused by the quake could hit the coast by 11 p.m (local time).

Here in NZ:
The Ministry of Civil Defence has issued a tsunami warning for East Cape, Chatham Islands, Coromandel and Banks Peninsula.
 
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http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us20003k7a#general_summary
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us20003k7a#scientific_finitefault:us_us20003k7a

http://ptwc.weather.gov/text.php?id=pacific.TSUPAC.2015.09.17.0225
Code: 
TSUNAMI THREAT FORECAST
-----------------------

  * TSUNAMI WAVES REACHING MORE THAN 3 METERS ABOVE THE TIDE
    LEVEL ARE POSSIBLE ALONG SOME COASTS OF:

        CHILE.

  * TSUNAMI WAVES REACHING 1 TO 3 METERS ABOVE THE TIDE LEVEL ARE POSSIBLE ALONG SOME COASTS OF: 

       FRENCH POLYNESIA.

  * TSUNAMI WAVES REACHING 0.3 TO 1 METERS ABOVE THE TIDE LEVEL ARE POSSIBLE FOR SOME COASTS OF:

      MEXICO... ECUADOR... PERU... ANTARCTICA... JAPAN... NEW
      CALEDONIA... NEW ZEALAND... MARSHALL ISLANDS... FIJI... SAMOA...
      AMERICAN SAMOA... COOK ISLANDS... TOKELAU... VANUATU...
      KIRIBATI... JOHNSTON ISLAND... PALMYRA ISLAND... HOWLAND AND
      BAKER... TONGA... WALLIS AND FUTUNA... PITCAIRN ISLANDS...
      NIUE... SOLOMON ISLANDS... RUSSIA... HAWAII... AND NW HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

  * TSUNAMI WAVES ARE FORECAST TO BE LESS THAN 0.3 METERS ABOVE
    THE TIDE LEVEL FOR THE COASTS OF
 
      EL SALVADOR... GUATEMALA... HONDURAS... COSTA RICA...
      NICARAGUA... PANAMA... COLOMBIA... AUSTRALIA... PHILIPPINES...
      TAIWAN... CHINA... NORTHERN MARIANAS... GUAM... PALAU... YAP...
      POHNPEI... CHUUK... KOSRAE... NAURU... WAKE ISLAND... MIDWAY
      ISLAND... JARVIS ISLAND... TUVALU... PAPUA NEW GUINEA...
      INDONESIA... VIETNAM... MALAYSIA... AND BRUNEI.
 
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here's the processed seismogram from my sensor ...

150916.230202.zhi.gif
 

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