This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/17/world/americas/chileans-seek-high-ground-after-quake.html
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Chileans Seek High Ground After Earthquake; 5 Are Dead | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| SANTIAGO, Chile — A strong 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Chile’s coast on Wednesday, shaking buildings in cities around the country and forcing the authorities to evacuate residents along the 2,690-mile coast after tsunami warnings were issued. At least five deaths were reported. | |
| The quake hit at 7:54 p.m. west of Illapel, about 177 miles north of the capital, Santiago, and was felt in São Paulo, Brazil, more than 2,100 miles away. | The quake hit at 7:54 p.m. west of Illapel, about 177 miles north of the capital, Santiago, and was felt in São Paulo, Brazil, more than 2,100 miles away. |
| Chile’s national emergency service ordered the immediate evacuation of the coast, as well as Easter Island and the archipelago Juan Fernández. President Michelle Bachelet appeared on national television, telling citizens that her government was closely examining the damage. | Chile’s national emergency service ordered the immediate evacuation of the coast, as well as Easter Island and the archipelago Juan Fernández. President Michelle Bachelet appeared on national television, telling citizens that her government was closely examining the damage. |
| “Once again we have to confront a tough blow from nature,” Ms. Bachelet said in a reference to her nation’s long history of quakes. | |
| The under secretary of the Interior, Mahmud Aleuy, said one million people had been evacuated and 243,000 homes had lost power. | |
| People moved to higher ground in vehicles and on foot in relative calm as waves began flooding parts of some cities with differing intensity. Waves reached as high as 15 feet in Coquimbo, a port city 285 miles north of Santiago. The flooding spread to much of the city, causing extensive damage, said the city’s mayor, Cristián Galleguillos. | |
| One person was killed in Illapel after a wall fell on him in a restaurant, the city’s mayor, Denis Cortés, said on national television. Another death was reported in Coquimbo, while one person was reported missing in Tongoy after his pickup truck fell into the sea, according to a police report. Three men died of heart attacks: A 67-year-old and an 81-year-old in Valparaíso and a 96-year-old in Santiago. | |
| Flooding in Tongoy, a town 225 miles north of Santiago, reached downtown and destroyed a preschool, a police station and part of a health clinic, the authorities said. | |
| In Monte Patria in northern Chile, a woman, 20, was reported killed after being crushed by rocks that fell on her house. | In Monte Patria in northern Chile, a woman, 20, was reported killed after being crushed by rocks that fell on her house. |
| Tsunami warnings were issued as far away as California and New Zealand. | Tsunami warnings were issued as far away as California and New Zealand. |
| Adobe homes and infrastructure in towns and rural areas, especially in northern Chile, were seriously damaged, evoking the havoc caused by an 8.2-magnitude earthquake last year. | |
| Chile ranks among the countries that are most vulnerable to earthquakes, and Chileans have painful memories of a 2010 quake in southern Chile that killed 525 people, many of them in a tsunami in the south-central part of the country. | |
| Officials failed to issue a tsunami alert for that earthquake, resulting in 81 of those deaths. As a result, new protocols were put in place. Four government officials were later charged with involuntary manslaughter after they were accused of improperly evaluating the risks from the tsunami. |