A powerful magnitude-8.3 earthquake hit off Chile’s northern coast on Wednesday night, causing buildings to sway in the capital of Santiago and bringing flooding from small tsunami waves in some shore towns. Five deaths were reported. Officials were
The strongest earthquake ever recorded on Earth happened in Chile, a magnitude-9.5 tremor in 1960 that killed more than 5,000 people. (Photo: Twitter)
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially issued a tsunami watch for Hawaii, but later downgraded its advisory and said no major tsunami was expected. (Photo: Twitter)
Authorities said some adobe houses collapsed in the inland city of Illapel, about 175 miles (280 kilometers) north of Santiago. Illapel is about 34 miles (55 kilometers) east of the quake’s epicenter. (Photo: Twitter)
Officials ordered people to evacuate low-lying areas along the 2,400 miles (3,900 kilometers) of Chile’s Pacific shore, from Puerto Aysen in the south to Africa in the north.
“Once again we must confront a powerful blow from nature,” President Michelle Bachelet said, addressing the nation late Wednesday. She urged people who had been evacuated from coastal areas to stay on high ground until authorities could fully
Numerous strong aftershocks, including one measuring 7.0 magnitude and three above 6, rattled the region after the first major tremor since a powerful quake and tsunami killed hundreds in 2010 and leveled part of the city of Concepcion in south-
Authorities had issued a tsunami alert for Chile’s entire Pacific coast, and the tremor was so strong that people on the other side of the continent, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, reported feeling it.
Chile earthquake: Five dead, million evacuated and tsunami alert