Massive Earthquake off Chile Sparks Tsunami
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A massive magnitude 8.2 earthquake and tsunamis hit the northern coast of Chile, near the port of Iquique, and prompted a warning for the country's Pacific coast, Chilean officials said.
Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said five people were confirmed dead and attributed the deaths to heart attacks or being crushed.
The first tsunami waves hit the coast within 45 minutes of the quake, Chilean officials said, adding that the disaster forced evacuations along Chile's Pacific coast for fear of tsunamis. The waves generated were 2.11 metres tall, US officials said.
Thousands of buildings have lost power, and hundreds of thousands of Chileans are spending the night away from their homes due to the evacuation order, which remains in effect for northern Chile.
Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman, reporting from the Chilean capital of Santiago, said that authorities were happy with how an evacuation plan was going.
"What we've been seeing on national TV is people running from the beach," Newman said. "They've been warned about a tsunami. That's the biggest concern for now."
Newman said the area near the coastline was flat and so there was no way of reaching high ground.
"It's a matter of getting away as far as possible - several kilometres," she said.
The earthquake hit an area that has been rocked by numerous quakes over the past two weeks.
Live footage from Chilean television showed scores of cars driving away from the coastline at high speed and state television also broadcast viewer footage of the insides of buildings shaking as the earthquake struck.