8.3-magnitude earthquake hits Chile

Powerful earthquake struck off Chile’s northwest coast and killed at least five people. New Zealand and Fiji are on alert for tsunami.

United States Geological Survey (USGS) has issued a tsunami alert or alarm to the state of California, Hawaii and southeast areas of Japan. The waters off the coast of Korea will be affected by the tsunami in the morning of Sep. 18.

USGS announced that an 8.3-magnitude earthquake, which was centered about 228km northwest of Santiago, hit Chile at 7:54 PM on Sep. 16 (local time). The agency said the quake was 12 km below the surface. After the first massive earthquake shook Chile, aftershocks above magnitude-6 and 7 rattled the region more than 15 times.

The Chilean Ministry of Interior estimated that at least five people were killed by the earthquake in the morning of Sep. 17. More than 1 million evacuated from 10 affected cities including low-lying areas on the coast. The Chilean emergency service agency, ONEMI, ordered people to evacuate from low-lying coastal areas along the 3,900km of Chile’s shore from Puerto Aysen in the South to Arica in the North. The government ordered to close all schools across the nation on Sep. 17. The Santiago international airport resumed operation after a temporary shutdown.

Currently, 2,700 Koreans are residing in Chile. But it has been reported that there was no fatality or damage in the Korean population as of Sep. 17.