A powerful magnitude-8.3 earthquake shook the northern coast of Chile Wednesday night, causing structures to sway in the Santiago capital and bringing flooding from small tsunami waves in some coastal towns.
Authorities reported three deaths, Fox News informed. No information of serious damage were made available after the quake, yet officials were still checking the region late into the night.
The Associated Press revealed there were "some adobe houses collapsed in the inland city of Illapel, about 175 miles (280 kilometers) north of Santiago and about 34 miles (55 kilometers) east of the quake's epicenter." Electricity was also disrupted, leaving the entire city in darkness.
Officials had issued a tsunami alert for the country's entire Pacific coast. People in Buenos Aires also reported feeling the tremor.
Several aftershocks were also recorded, including one measuring 7.0 and three above 6. The quake rattled the region since a powerful tremor and tsunami took hundreds of lives, devastated 220,000 homes and washed away docks, riverfronts and seaside resorts in 2010 and flattened part of the Concepcion City in south-central Chile.
"Once again we must confront a powerful blow from nature," President Michelle Bachelet said, addressing the state late Wednesday. She informed three people had been killed in the quake but gave no other details. Too, she urged people to stay on high ground until authorities could fully evaluate the situation early Thursday.
Officials ordered the general public to evacuate low-lying areas along the 2,400 miles of the state's Pacific shore. The main airport of Santiago was also evacuated as a precaution.
Authorities announced suspension of classes on the port city of Valparaiso on Thursday.
Chile is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries since the Nazca tectonic plate plunges underneath the South American plate, pushing the soaring Andes cordillera to ever-higher altitudes.
The world's strongest earthquake ever recorded took place in Chile - a magnitude-9.5 tremble in 1960 which slew more than 5,000 lives.
