Tsunami warning lowered in Chile, evacuations slow down after major earthquake
SANTIAGO: Authorities in Chile on Friday lifted a tsunami warning and evacuation order issued after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck off the southern coast of South America.
"The preventive evacuation is over. That means everyone can return and resume their activities," Juan Carlos Andrade, director of the state disaster agency in the remote southern Magallanes region, said.
At a press conference later in the day, Interior Minister Alvaro Elizalde said the evacuation alert for the region was being downgraded, but advised people to stay away from the beach and coastal regions.
Chilean authorities issued a tsunami warning for the country's southernmost region Friday morning, after a major 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck in the Drake Passage, the body of water separating South America and Antarctica.
"ATTENTION! #SENAPRED, due to the threat of a tsunami, requests the evacuation of the sector of the coastline of the # Magallanes Region," Chile's emergency agency SENAPRED wrote on its social media account.
President Gabriel Boric echoed the call for the "evacuation of the coastline throughout the Magallanes region" on his X account.
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