Aftershocks rattle Chile after earthquake as death toll rises to eight, million+ evacuated.

Aftershocks rattle Chile after earthquake as death toll rises to eight

Coastal towns are devastated by the tremors and resulting tsunami surges but power and phone outages make extent of devastation difficult to assess




Chile has been shaken by dozens of aftershocks after a powerful earthquake toppled buildings, killed at least eight people and forced the evacuation of more than 1 million people. The magnitude 8.3 tremor on Wednesday night lasted for three minutes, and caused a series of tsunami surges – some as high as 4.5 metres (15ft) – which swamped towns along the Chilean coast. Tsunami warnings were triggered in Japan, New Zealand and Russia, as well as the US states of California and Hawaii.

After a night in which at least 40 aftershocks hit the region – including one at magnitude 7 and seven at magnitude 6 or above – daylight revealed scenes of wreckage and ruin for hundreds of miles along the Chilean coastline.

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The Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, was due to fly over the worst-hit areas on Thursday, and cancelled her participation in many of the nation’s independence day celebrations scheduled for Friday.

Late on Wednesday night, Bachelet spoke on national television, declaring Tongoy and Coquimbo catastrophe zones and mobilising the military to help civilians and prevent looting. “Once again we must confront a powerful blow from nature,” Bachelet said. The earthquake came at the beginning of a four-day national holiday and hundreds of thousands of Chileans had already travelled to the coast.

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/17/chile-earthquake-aftershocks-tsunami-surges-coquimbo