AT LEAST six people were killed today after a huge earthquake struck the Chilean coast, causing buildings to collapse in the capital Santiago and triggering a tsunami.
The quake hit 197 miles southwest of the capital, Santiago, and at a depth of 36.9 miles at 3.34am (6.34am GMT), the US Geological Survey reported.
Its epicentre was just 75 miles from Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city, where more than 200,000 people live along the Bio Bio river, and 60 miles from the ski town of Chillan, a gateway to Andean ski resorts that was destroyed in a 1939 earthquake.
Buildings shook and collapsed in Santiago.
Phone lines were down in the country, making confirmation of damage difficult, especially further south toward the epicentre. The quake was felt in Argentina as well.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a warning for Chile and Peru, and a less-urgent tsunami watch for Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Antarctica.
Bruce Presgrave from the US Geological Survey said: “This is much bigger than the Haiti earthquake but is in a more sparsely populated area.”
He said: “The latest quake is along what would be considered part of the Pacific ‘ring of fire’.
“It’s a very active seismic zone.
“It’s just north of the area along the Pacific coast of Chile where the largest earthquake recorded in the 20th century occurred.”
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said: “We have had a huge earthquake.”
And she issued an appeal for Chileans to remain calm. President Bachelet said early reports were that six people had been killed, and “without a doubt, with an earthquake of this magnitude, there will be more deaths”.