Fresh off the heels of a magnitude-8.2 earthquake off the coast of northern Chile Tuesday night, a powerful aftershock struck the country at 9:58 p.m. EDT Wednesday.
A magnitude-7.8 tremor was reported about 25 miles southwest of Iquique, Chile. It caused buildings to shake in the port of Iquique, which saw some damage from the big quake on Tuesday. There are no immediate reports of new damage or injuries. The Pacific and national tsunami warning centers said Wednesday there is no threat of tsunami to U.S. coastal states.
The latest tremor came 45 minutes after a strong 6.4-magnitude aftershock shook the same area.
The U.S. Geological Survey says aftershocks can continue over a period of weeks, months or even years. In general, the larger the main earthquake, the larger and more numerous the aftershocks, and the longer they will continue.
In the wake of Tuesday's earthquake, six people had been killed, either from being crushed by debris or suffering heart attacks in the event. The quake has also set off a tsunami that forced evacuations along the country's entire Pacific coast.
Waves from the earthquake reached Hawaii Wednesday morning, but none were bigger than 1.9 feet, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Still, experts were asking people to stay out of the water.
(WATCH: Earthquake Rocks Chile, Sends People Fleeing)
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued tsunami advisories for the Pacific coast of Hokkaido and Honshu, two of its four major islands, at 3 a.m. Japanese time Thursday (2 p.m. EDT Wednesday). The advisories also included the Izu and Bonin island chains well south of the mainland.
A small tsunami ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 meter (0.3 to 1.3 feet) in height was observed across much of the Japanese advisory area between 7 and 9 a.m. local time Thursday.
"Though there may be slight sea-level change in coastal regions, no tsunami damage is expected," the JMA bulletin noted.
Across the ocean, a small tsunami reached the coast of southern California late Wednesday morning. The maximum tsunami in California was reported at Port San Luis, on the central coast, with a harmless amplitude of 6.7 inches. The tsunami height at Los Angeles was a negligible 2.0 inches.
Earthquake MagnitudeEarthquake MagnitudeAccording to an NBC News report, more than 900,000 peoplewere sent fleeing to their "safe zones"away from the coast when the shaking began Tuesday.
Chile's navy said the first tsunami wave arrived on the coast within 45 minutes of the quake, according to NBC News. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the tsunami brought a tsunami wave over 6 feet high to parts of Chile. The maximum tsunami amplitude was 6.9 feet at Iquique, with reports of 6.6 feet at Pisagua and 6.0 feet at Arica.
The shaking that began at 8:46 p.m. Tuesday also touched off landslides that blocked roads, knocked out power for thousands, damaged an airport and started fires that destroyed several businesses. Some homes made of adobe were destroyed in Arica, a city close to the quake's offshore epicenter.
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.According to La Tercera, the regional prosecutor for the Tarapaca region says that 100 of the 332 prisoners who escapedafter the earthquake have been recaptured.
(PHOTOS:Massive Earthquake Slams Chile)
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."Urrutiadescribed 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 declared a state of emergency and was reviewing the damage in Iquique, a northern coastal city of nearly 200,000 people near where the quake struck in the Pacific Ocean. A planeload of 100 anti-riot police was deployed along with 300 soldiers to prevent looting and round up escaped prisoners.
Bachelet, who just returned to the presidency three weeks ago, spoke well after midnight, five hours after the quake struck. She was 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.
(MORE: Is An Even Bigger Quake Coming?)
According to La Tercera, 23 flights were 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.
Chilean Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo saidBachelet 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.
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. That quake also produced a Pacific-wide tsunami that killed dozens in Hawaii and over 100 in Japan.
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 before Tuesday evening's quake.
Chile's National Seismological Service reported approximately 150 aftershocks in the 24-hour period following Tuesday's 8.2 temblor.
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. After evaluating the data, the government of the Philippines concluded that there was no threat of a destructive tsunami there either.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report
Source: http://www.weather.com/safety/earthquake/earthquake-strikes-near-iquique-chile-20140401
No comments:
Post a Comment