SANTIAGO // A major earthquake just offshore rattled Chileans, killing three people and shaking the Earth so strongly that tremors were felt across South America.
Authorities worked into the early hours Thursday assessing damage in several coastal towns that saw flooding from small tsunami waves set off by the earthquake.
The magnitude-8.3 earthquake hit off northern Chile on Wednesday night, causing buildings to sway in the capital of Santiago and prompting authorities to issue a tsunami warning for the nation’s entire Pacific coast.
People sought safety in the streets of inland cities, while others along the shore drove their cars to get to higher ground.
“Once again we must confront a powerful blow from nature,” Michelle Bachelet, the president, said in an address to the nation late Wednesday.
Ms Bachelet said three people had been killed but did not provide details. She urged people who evacuated from coastal areas to stay on high ground until authorities could fully evaluate the situation during the night.
Officials said schools would be kept closed in most of the country Thursday.
Numerous aftershocks, including one at magnitude-7 and four above six, shook the region after the initial earthquake — the strongest tremor since a powerful quake and tsunami killed hundreds in 2010 and levelled part of the city of Concepcion in south-central Chile.
Although officials cautioned it was too early, it appeared Wednesday’s earthquake has had a much smaller effect than the 2010 incident.
“Earthquake effect is a little like real estate: what matters is location, location, location,” said Susan Hough, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey. “But it is true that preparedness and risk reduction in Chile is ahead of that in much of the world, and that makes a difference.”
The tremor was so strong that people in Buenos Aires, Argentina, reported feeling it. Residents in Peru and Brazil also reported feeling the shakes. No injuries were reported outside Chile.
Claudio Moreno said he was in a Santiago bar when it hit. The shaking was powerful, but more worrisome was how long it lasted, he said.
“We went out in the street when we felt it was going on too long,” he said. “It was more than a minute.”
Authorities said some adobe houses collapsed in the inland city of Illapel, about 280 kilometres north of Santiago and about 55 kilometres east of the epicentre.
Illapel’s mayor, Denis Cortes, said 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,” Mr Cortes said.
A magnitude-8.8 quake and ensuing tsunami in south-central Chile in 2010 killed more than 500 people, destroyed 220,000 homes, and washed away docks, riverfronts and seaside resorts. That earthquake released so much energy, it actually it shortened the Earth’s day by a fraction of a second by changing the planet’s rotation.
The earthquake had ramifications, both political and practical, prompting the country to improve its alert systems for both quakes and tsunamis.
While Wednesday’s tremor was strong by any estimation, the 2010 quake was 5.6 times more powerful in terms of energy released, according to the US Geological Survey.
* Associated Press