A powerful 8.2-magnitude earthquake hit northern Chile’s Pacific coast, killing at least six people as tsunami waves of more than two metres lashed the shore.
The quake sent panicked residents pouring into the streets, with more than 900,000 people along Chile’s coast heeding Government orders to evacuate their homes and seek higher ground. Similar warnings were issued in a ripple effect up the Pacific coast of South America and into Central America.
But about 10 hours after the two-minute quake on Tuesday, the Chilean Government lifted what remained of a nationwide tsunami alert. People began trickling home after spending hours outside in the middle of the night although the Interior Ministry asked them to remain on alert, as sea levels will remain as much as a metre higher than usual.
Some fires broke out, roads were damaged and power was knocked out in the northern city of Arica, although there was no widespread destruction from the latest mighty quake in one of the world’s most seismically active countries, said the disaster relief agency ONEMI.