TSUNAMI waves have been observed after a powerful 8.3 magnitude earthquake shook Chile’s capital, Santiago, and was felt as far away as Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Several strong aftershocks hit Santiago within minutes as tsunami alarms sounded in the port of Valparaiso and authorities issued a tsunami alert for the country’s entire coast.
The agency revised its estimate of the earthquake magnitude from 7.9 to 8.3 on the Richter scale after it occurred.
At least two people were killed and 10 others were injured, authorities said.
Four aftershocks above magnitude-6 and other strong shakes 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-central Chile.
Jorge Medina, a Santiago resident, said he was in an aerobics class when the quake hit.
“People started screaming that everything was shaking,” he said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that tsunami waves had been observed with waves three metres above the tide level along the coast of Chile.
PTWC also said that tsunami waves of one to three metres were forecast along some parts of French Polynesia.
The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management in New Zealand issued a tsunami warning for East Cape, Chatham Islands, Coromandel and Banks Peninsula.
The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories at 9.29am.
A tsunami distribution projection graphic issued by the US National Tsunami Warning Centre.Source:Supplied
Streets evacuated ... a police officer stands in the street to flag down buses for people to take home after an earthquake in Santiago, Chile. Picture: APSource:AP
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 Arica in the north. Fishing boats headed out to sea and cars streamed inland carrying people to higher ground. Santiago’s main airport was evacuated as a precaution.
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.
Illapel’s mayor, Denis Cortes, told a local television station that a woman had been killed in the city but declined to give any details.
Electricity was knocked out, leaving the city in darkness. “We are very scared. Our city panicked,” Cortes said.
The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the quake at a preliminary magnitude of 7.9 but quickly revised the reading upward to 8.3. Chilean authorities put the magnitude at 8.4.
U.S. officials said the quake struck just offshore in the Pacific at 7:54 p.m. (6:54 p.m. EDT, 1154 GMT) and was centered about 141 miles (228 kilometers) north-northwest of Santiago. It said the quake was 7.4 miles (12 kilometers) below the surface.
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