SANTIAGO, 3 May (Alliance News): A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the Drake Passage off the southern coast of Chile on Friday, prompting widespread evacuations due to a tsunami threat, though no casualties or major damage were reported.
The quake occurred at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers between Cape Horn and Antarctica, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Chile’s national disaster agency SENAPRED reported no immediate injuries or infrastructure damage but issued a preventive evacuation alert for the southern Magallanes region.
President Gabriel Boric announced the evacuation order on X, stating that all government resources were being mobilized to manage any impact. “We’re calling to evacuate the coast in the whole region of Magallanes,” he said.
Later, Interior Minister Alvaro Elizalde confirmed the evacuation alert was being downgraded but urged residents to avoid beaches and low-lying coastal areas as a precaution.
SENAPRED director Alicia Cebrian said a minor “instrumental tsunami” was recorded at Chile’s Antarctic Prat Base, with a sea-level variation of 6 centimeters, adding that waves up to 90 centimeters could still occur.
Social media videos showed orderly evacuations, with sirens sounding in the background. Parks and designated safe zones filled with residents, students, and workers across the southern territories. Approximately 2,000 people were initially evacuated before the warning was revised.
Chile’s Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service said waves would reach Antarctica first, followed by southern Chilean coastal cities.
The Chilean Antarctic Institute confirmed precautionary evacuations of research bases on the continent.
