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Washington Post
4 days ago
- Climate
- Washington Post
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hits northern Chile, with no reports of casualties
SANTIAGO, Chile — A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile on Friday, causing minor infrastructure damage and cutting power to over 20,000 people. Authorities have not reported any casualties following the tremor. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported the quake hit at 1:15 p.m. local time (5:15 p.m. GMT) at a depth of 76 kilometers (47 miles). Its epicenter was located near the coast of the Atacama Desert. While the quake was felt across several communities in the expansive Atacama Desert region, initial reports confirmed no immediate casualties. Chile's Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service said the earthquake's characteristics did not meet the conditions necessary to generate a tsunami along the South American coast. Miguel Ortiz, deputy director of Chile's national disaster response service, Senapred, said the powerful earthquake caused 'minor' infrastructure damage and power disruptions, leaving nearly 23,000 people without electricity. 'Some minor landslides have been recorded, which are being monitored and coordinated with the municipalities,' he said. Ortiz also noted 'some minor landslides,' which are being monitored and coordinated with local municipalities. Chilean President Gabriel Boric , said on X his government was in communication with the regional presidential delegate, and confirmed there were 'no reported casualties.' ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Climate
- Associated Press
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hits northern Chile, with no reports of casualties
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile on Friday, causing minor infrastructure damage and cutting power to over 20,000 people. Authorities have not reported any casualties following the tremor. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported the quake hit at 1:15 p.m. local time (5:15 p.m. GMT) at a depth of 76 kilometers (47 miles). Its epicenter was located near the coast of the Atacama Desert. While the quake was felt across several communities in the expansive Atacama Desert region, initial reports confirmed no immediate casualties. Chile's Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service said the earthquake's characteristics did not meet the conditions necessary to generate a tsunami along the South American coast. Miguel Ortiz, deputy director of Chile's national disaster response service, Senapred, said the powerful earthquake caused 'minor' infrastructure damage and power disruptions, leaving nearly 23,000 people without electricity. 'Some minor landslides have been recorded, which are being monitored and coordinated with the municipalities,' he said. Ortiz also noted 'some minor landslides,' which are being monitored and coordinated with local municipalities. Chilean President Gabriel Boric, said on X his government was in communication with the regional presidential delegate, and confirmed there were 'no reported casualties.' ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
The Sun
03-05-2025
- The Sun
Major offshore quake causes tsunami scare in Chile, Argentina
USHUAIA: A strong offshore earthquake caused a tsunami scare in the far south of Chile and Argentina on Friday, with authorities evacuating residents of coastal areas for hours before scaling back the threat level. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck in the Drake Passage between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). The USGS put the magnitude at 7.4, slightly below the 7.5 reported by Chile's National Seismological Center. It struck at 9:58 am local time (1258 GMT), and several smaller aftershocks were also recorded, but there were no reports of injuries or material damage. The epicenter was 219 kilometers from the city of Ushuaia in Argentina and a similar distance from the Chilean town of Puerto Williams. Chile's emergency agency Senapred issued a tsunami warning and ordered the evacuation of coastal areas of the remote southern Magallanes region. But within two hours, the agency had lifted the evacuation order. 'The preventive evacuation is over. That means everyone can return and resume their activities,' Juan Carlos Andrade, Senapred's director in Magallanes, said, while adding that fishing was suspended until further notice. Situated at the southern tip of South America, the Magallanes region is Chile's second largest but is sparsely populated. It lies adjacent to Argentina's Tierra del Fuego Province, home to Ushuaia, a major jump-off point for expeditions to the Antarctic. 'Felt the bed moving' Sofia Ramonet told AFP was asleep when she 'felt the bed moving a lot' in her third-floor apartment in Ushuaia. 'I looked up at the ceiling where I have a hanging lamp and it was moving from one side to the other. It lasted a considerable amount of time, a few minutes.' When she looked out the window she saw 'a lot of people outside their homes' who were 'scared because they didn't know what was happening or what to do.' There was no evacuation order for Ushuaia. But residents of Puerto Almanza, a village 75 kilometers to the east on the Beagle Channel, which separates the main island in Tierra del Fuego archipelago from smaller islands and which could act as a funnel for a wave surge, were ordered to move to higher ground. All nautical activities in the Beagle Channel were suspended, Tierra del Fuego's secretary for civil protection told AFP. The quake was felt 160 miles as the crow flies north of Ushuaia in the Chilean town of Porvenir on the Strait of Magellan. 'I didn't give it much thought until the alarms sounded. It caused a bit of chaos because it's not normal to feel tremors here,' Shirley Gallego, a 41-year-old fishing plant operator told AFP. A history of quakes Chile is one of the countries most affected by earthquakes. Three tectonic plates converge within its territory: the Nazca, the South American, and the Antarctic plates. On X, several videos showed people evacuating their homes in Puerto Williams, the town closest to the quake's epicenter. Chile's police on its X account showed an officer pushing a person in a wheelchair up a hill in the town of 2,800 inhabitants while other videos shared on X showed people walking up a hill. In 1960, the southern Chilean city of Valdivia was devastated by a magnitude 9.5 earthquake, considered the most powerful ever recorded, which killed 9,500 people. In 2010, an 8.8 magnitude quake off the coast of central Chile, which triggered a tsunami, left more than 520 dead.
Hamilton Spectator
02-05-2025
- Climate
- Hamilton Spectator
7.4 magnitude quake off Chile's far south briefly triggers tsunami alert but causes no damage
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck in the South Atlantic Ocean off Chile and Argentina on Friday, prompting thousands in Chile to evacuate parts of the sparsely populated coast for higher ground due to tsunami fears. There were no reported damage or casualties from the earthquake that hit at 8:58 a.m. local time and triggered at least a dozen aftershocks. Due to fears that the tremblor could generate a potential tsunami, the Chilean government issued an evacuation order for the coastline of the Strait of Magellan, at the southern tip of South America, and for the country's bases and research stations on the Antarctic peninsula. Chilean authorities withdrew the warning later Friday after determining that no tsunami was occurring, allowing people to trickle back to their homes even as officials continued to caution the public to steer clear of boardwalks and beaches. 'Although the state of the emergency has been downgraded ... it's very important to remain alert to official communications,' Chilean President Gabriel Boric wrote on social media platform X. 'In these cases, it's always better to be safe than sorry.' The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was shallow, at just 10 kilometers (6 miles) under the seabed, and it struck about 219 kilometers (173 miles) south of Argentina's southernmost city of Ushuaia, the remote outpost from which most Antarctic cruises set sail. The U.S. monitoring agency said it expected waves to reach up to 3 meters high. The Chilean government estimated the waves would first hit bases in Antarctica before reaching Chile's southernmost naval station of Puerto Williams and, on Saturday morning, lashing the coast off the larger town of Punta Arenas along the Strait of Magellan, the key waterway connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Local news stations aired footage of residents in Punta Arenas calmly making their way toward shelters and evacuation points on higher ground as sirens blared in the background. Schools in the region closed for the day. Chile's police force also shared footage of an officer pushing a man in a wheelchair up a hill in desolate Puerto Williams. Chile's national disaster response service, Senapred, reported the evacuation of some 2,000 residents before it downgraded the warnings, with 32 people following procedures from Chile's Antarctic research bases. Boric, who is from the city of Punta Arenas, suspended his normal agenda on Friday and called an emergency committee meeting to address the earthquake. 'All state resources are available,' he said. As one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world, Chile has built up its preparedness for earthquakes and tsunamis spawned over the years by the tectonic plates clashing under the surface of the Pacific Ocean. ____ Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre and Débora Rey in Buenos Aires contributed to this report. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
The Journal
02-05-2025
- The Journal
Major offshore earthquake causes tsunami scare in south of Chile and Argentina
A STRONG OFFSHORE earthquake caused a tsunami scare in the far south of Chile and Argentina today, with authorities evacuating residents of coastal areas for hours before scaling back the threat level. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck in the Drake Passage between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres. The USGS put the magnitude at 7.4, slightly below the 7.5 reported by Chile's National Seismological Centre. It struck at 9:58 am local time, and several smaller aftershocks were also recorded, but there were no reports of injuries or material damage. The epicentre was 219 kilometres from the city of Ushuaia in Argentina and a similar distance from the Chilean town of Puerto Williams. Chile's emergency agency Senapred issued a tsunami warning and ordered the evacuation of coastal areas of the remote southern Magallanes region. But within two hours, the agency had lifted the evacuation order. 'The preventive evacuation is over. That means everyone can return and resume their activities,' Juan Carlos Andrade, Senapred's director in Magallanes, said, while adding that fishing was suspended until further notice. Situated at the southern tip of South America, the Magallanes region is Chile's second largest but is sparsely populated. It lies adjacent to Argentina's Tierra del Fuego Province, home to Ushuaia, a major jump-off point for expeditions to the Antarctic. 'Felt the bed moving' Sofia Ramonet told AFP was asleep when she 'felt the bed moving a lot' in her third-floor apartment in Ushuaia. 'I looked up at the ceiling where I have a hanging lamp and it was moving from one side to the other. It lasted a considerable amount of time, a few minutes.' Advertisement When she looked out the window she saw 'a lot of people outside their homes' who were 'scared because they didn't know what was happening or what to do.' There was no evacuation order for Ushuaia. But residents of Puerto Almanza, a village 75 kilometres to the east on the Beagle Channel, which separates the main island in Tierra del Fuego archipelago from smaller islands and which could act as a funnel for a wave surge, were ordered to move to higher ground. All nautical activities in the Beagle Channel were suspended, Tierra del Fuego's secretary for civil protection told AFP. The quake was felt 260 kilometres as the crow flies north of Ushuaia in the Chilean town of Porvenir on the Strait of Magellan. 'I didn't give it much thought until the alarms sounded. It caused a bit of chaos because it's not normal to feel tremors here,' Shirley Gallego, a 41-year-old fishing plant operator told AFP. A history of quakes Chile is one of the countries most affected by earthquakes. Three tectonic plates converge within its territory: the Nazca, the South American, and the Antarctic plates. On X, several videos showed people evacuating their homes in Puerto Williams, the town closest to the quake's epicentre. Chile's police on its X account showed an officer pushing a person in a wheelchair up a hill in the town of 2,800 inhabitants while other videos shared on X showed people walking up a hill. ⭕️ Detectives de Migraciones y Policía Internacional de la PDI colaboran en el proceso de #evacuación en #PuertoWilliams tras el sismo registrado esta mañana. — PDI_Magallanes (@PDI_Magallanes) May 2, 2025 In 1960, the southern Chilean city of Valdivia was devastated by a magnitude 9.5 earthquake, considered the most powerful ever recorded, which killed 9,500 people. In 2010, an 8.8 magnitude quake off the coast of central Chile, which triggered a tsunami, left more than 520 dead. - © AFP 2025
