6 People Dead After 8.2 Earthquake Shakes Chile Coast

A major earthquake of magnitude 8.2 struck off the coast of northern Chile on Tuesday triggering a tsunami alert and killing at least 6 people.

Officials sadly confirmed that among the dead were people crushed by collapsing walls or killed by heart attacks.


The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 20:46 local time (23:46 GMT) about 86km (52 miles) north-west of the mining area of Iquique.

Waves of up to 2.1m (6ft) have hit some areas in Chile, and there have been power cuts, fires and landslides.

Thousands of people were evacuated in affected areas, where a state of emergency has been declared.Chilean TV broadcast pictures of traffic jams as people tried to leave.

Iquique Governor Gonzalo Prieto told local media that in addition to those killed, several people had been seriously injured.

While the government said it had no reports of significant damage to coastal areas, a number of adobe homes were reported destroyed in Arica.

300 prisoners also took advantage of the emergency and escaped from a female penitentiary in Iquique.