Million people evacuated after powerful Chile quake

Baku. 17 September. REPORT.AZ/ The deceased included 35-year-old Lissette Araya Silva, who died after a roof collapse and 20-year-old Jofre Gloria Victoria killed by a rockslide, Chilean Deputy Interior Secretary Mahmud Aleuy said as cited by the Semana magazine on Wednesday. The remaining three victims, all aged over 60, died from heart attacks, Report informs referring Russian Sputnik. 

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet confirmed the death of three people as cited by El Tiempo newspaper on Wednesday – the two women killed by the roof collapse and rockslide as well as a senior man who died from a heart attack.

An 8.3-magnitude earthquake hit Chile’s central Coquimbo Region, located about 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the capital Santiago, at around 22:54 GMT on Wednesday, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Chile’s National Office of Emergency of the Interior Ministry (ONEMI) put the quake’s magnitude at 8.4, issuing a nation-wide red alert and a tsunami warning.

According to ONEMI, an evacuation of Chile’s entire national coastline was requested at around 20:03 local time (23:03 GMT) on Wednesday.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) issued hazardous wave warnings for Chile, Peru, Hawaii and French Polynesia after the earthquake.