A powerful magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck off the coast of northern Chile on Tuesday night, setting off a small tsunami that forced evacuations along the country’s entire Pacific coast. Six people were killed and a tsunami advisory remains in effect for Hawaii as the effects of the temblor move out over the Pacific Ocean, but the state isn’t likely to see damage from the higher waves.
The first wave from the earthquake was expected to reach Hawaii at approximately 3:24 a.m. local time (9:24 a.m. Eastern), according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
“What we’re really worried about is currents,” said Gerald Fryer, a geophysicist with the PTWC, in a Reuters report. “And occasionally you get a larger wave so it sweeps up the beach or something. If you’re not ready for it you can get into difficulty and if you’re in the water you can get banged about.”
According to an NBC News report, more than 900,000 people were sent fleeing to their “safe zones” away from the coast when the shaking began. Most of the victims were killed by falling debris or heart attacks, Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said.
Chile’s navy reports the first tsunami wave arrived on the coast within 45 minutes of the quake, the report also stated. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the tsunami brought one wave measuring nearly six feet.
The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the quake at 8.0, but later upgraded the magnitude. It said the quake struck 61 miles northwest of the Chilean city of Iquique at 8:46 p.m., hitting a region that has been rocked by numerous quakes over the past two weeks.
The shaking loosened landslides that blocked roads, knocked out power for thousands, damaged an airport and lead to several fires at local businesses. The Chilean national police force, through its Twitter account, cautioned motorists driving through the Poconchile sector in Arica and Parinacota after landslides were reported in the area.
About 300 inmates escaped from a women’s prison in the city of Iquique, and officials said Chile’s military was sending a planeload of special forces to guard against looting.
In the city of Arica, 86 miles from the quake’s epicenter, hospitals were treating minor injuries, and some homes made of adobe were destroyed and 90 percent of customers were without power, authorities said.
The mayor of Arica, Salvador Urrutia, says schools in the city have not suffered major damage and classes may resume Thursday. He told national news network TVN Canal that the situation in the city is “almost normal.” Urrutia described the orderly, peaceful manner citizens evacuated their homes after the tsunami alert last night as “like a cup of milk.”
“I visited with the general in charge, and there was never swearing or aggression, [people were mostly] calm and only demanded blankets,” Urrutia told radio station Radio Cooperativa.
The quake also shook modern buildings in nearby Peru and in Bolivia’s high altitude capital of La Paz.
President Michelle Bachelet’s government extended its tsunami warnings for northernmost Chile long after they were lifted elsewhere. Its mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect until nearly dawn for coastal areas north of Antofogasta, a decision backed by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. Those warnings were finally dropped early Wednesday morning, according to Chile’s Ministry of the Interior.
Bachelet, who just returned to the presidency three weeks ago, spoke well after midnight, five hours after the quake struck. She is on her way to the Tarapaca Region, accompanied by several cabinet members, including the Minister of Public Works, Alberto Undurraga. The President says she will be on the ground to meet with local emergency committees and assess needs.
It was not lost on many Chileans that the last time she presided over a major quake, days before the end of her 2006-10 term, her emergency preparedness office prematurely waved off a tsunami danger. Most of the 500 dead from that magnitude-8.8 tremor survived the shaking, only to be caught in killer waves in a disaster that destroyed 220,000 homes and washed away large parts of many coastal communities.
“The country has done a good job of confronting the emergency. I call on everyone to stay calm and follow the authorities’ instructions,” Bachelet tweeted after Tuesday night’s temblor.
When she finally addressed the nation, she said her interior minister would monitor the tsunami threat throughout the night and coordinate the emergency response. “Classes have been suspended, and we will be able to know the extent of the damage in the light of day,” she added.
According to La Tercera, 23 flights have been canceled until noon Wednesday due to the closure of airports in northern Chile. Approximately 4,500 passengers are affected. A manager for LAN airlines says flights will resume as airports reopen.
La Tercera also reports that the government emergency service Onemi says 50 percent of electric service has been restored in Arica and 30 percent of power has been restored in Iquique.
Psychiatrist Ricardo Yevenes said he was with a patient in Arica when the quake hit. “It quickly began to move the entire office, things were falling,” he told local television. “Almost the whole city is in darkness.”
The quake was so strong that the shaking experienced in Bolivia’s capital about 290 miles away was the equivalent of a 4.5-magnitude tremor, authorities there said. More than 10 strong aftershocks followed in the first few hours, including a 6.2 tremor. More aftershocks and even a larger quake could not be ruled out, said seismologist Mario Pardo at the University of Chile.
Chilean Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said Bachelet was closely watching the situation and was ready to take “any measures” to ensure people’s safety. Hundreds of soldiers were deployed into the quake zone, and a plane with 100 special forces on board was also sent to the area, he added.
“We have taken action to ensure public order in the case of Iquique, where we’ve had a massive escape of more than 300 female prisoners from the Iquique jail, so that the armed forces and police can coordinate and provide tranquility and security to the residents,” he said.
At least two fires were reported in Iquique, according to Chilean Financial Journal Online. The local airport was closed because of structural damage, the Journal said. Evacuations also were ordered in Peru, where waves 6 feet above normal forced about 200 people to leave the seaside town of Boca del Rio. But there were no injuries or major damage, said Col. Enrique Blanco, the regional police chief in Tacna, a Peruvian city of 300,000 near the Chilean border.
“The lights went out briefly, but were re-established,” Blanco said.
Brazil President Dilma Roussef sent a message of support and solidarity and has promised assistance to Chile. On Twitter, she posted: “The Brazilian government will help our Chilean brothers in any way possible.”
Chile is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries. A magnitude-8.8 quake and ensuing tsunami in central Chile in 2010 killed more than 500 people, destroyed 220,000 homes, and washed away docks, river fronts and seaside resorts.
The strongest earthquake ever recorded on Earth also happened in Chile — a magnitude-9.5 tremor in 1960 that killed more than 5,000 people.
Hundreds of earthquakes have shaken Chile’s far-northern coast in the past two weeks, keeping people on edge as scientists said there was no way to tell if the unusual string of tremors was a harbinger of an impending disaster.
The latest activity began with a strong magnitude-6.7 quake on March 16 that caused more than 100,000 people to briefly evacuate low-lying areas. Hundreds of smaller quakes followed in the weeks since.
Chile is the world’s leading copper-producing nation, and most of its mining industry is in the northern regions. Top mining companies said there was no serious damage to their operations so far.
Elsewhere in the Pacific, New Zealand has issued a statement of “no threat” to the country due to the situation. The country of the Philippines states that they are monitoring the threat, but no evacuation orders have been given at this time. Japan is still evaluating the threat, but no tsunami alerts have been issued.
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