Published: September 16,2015
Tsunami advisories are in effect for Hawaii and Southern California after a powerful magnitude-8.3 earthquake struck the Pacific Ocean waters just off the coast of Chile Wednesday afternoon, generating a dangerous 15-foot tsunami along parts of the Chilean coast. Two people are reported dead in Chile from incidents related to the earthquake, and extensive damage has been reported.
The tsunami is expected to fan out across much of the Pacific Ocean, though the worst of its power is expected to be focused westward toward French Polynesia, including Tahiti. Nonetheless, the two U.S. government agencies responsible for tsunami forecasting say tsunami waves of 1 to 3 feet may reach Hawaii early Thursday morning, while a tsunami of less than 1 foot is expected to reach southern California around the same time.
Video posted to social media shows flooding from the tsunami invading the resort city of Concón in Valparaiso Province.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the main shock struck at 7:54 p.m. Chile time (6:54 p.m. EDT in the U.S.) about 34 miles (54 km) west of Illapel, Chile, or about 145 miles (233 km) north-northwest of Santiago, Chile's largest city. It is the planet's strongest quake of 2015 thus far.
Officials in Chile issued a tsunami warning for the entire coastline of the country, advising everyone near the coast to move to higher ground. The tsunami warning was dropped for Chile's two southernmost regions shortly after 11 p.m. local time.
Shaking was reported in Santiago and across most of central Chile. The strongest shaking was reported in Coquimbo and La Serena, where the ground motions registered at level VIII (eight) on the 12-point Mercalli scale. Such shaking is classified as "severe" and can cause severe damage in poorly built structures.
ALERTA CHILE Reportan daños en el shooping de La Serena
Officials ordered people to evacuate low-lying areas along the 2,400 miles (3,900 kilometers) of Chile's Pacific shore, from Puerto Aysen in the south to Arica in the north. Fishing boats headed out to sea and cars streamed inland carrying people to higher ground. Santiago's main airport was evacuated as a precaution.
Authorities said some adobe houses collapsed in the inland city of Illapel, about 175 miles (280 kilometers) north of Santiago.
Illapel's mayor, Denis Cortes, told a local TV station that a woman had been killed in the city but declined to give any details.
Electricity was knocked out, leaving the city in darkness. "We are very scared. Our city panicked," Cortes said.
The quake has been followed by at least four strong aftershocks measuring 6.3, 6.1, 6.2 and 7.0 and striking at 7:59, 8:03, 8:16 and 8:18 p.m. local time, respectively. At least seven additional aftershocks registering between 5.0 and 5.9 on the moment magnitude scale have occurred, according to the USGS.
Other South American Nations on Alert
North of Chile, the Peruvian military issued a tsunami warning for the entire coast of Peru.However, the seismological agency in Ecuador, INOCAR, said the Chilean quake "does not have the characteristics necessary to generate a tsunami," and did not issue a tsunami warning for its coastline.
The PTWC bulletin disagreed, placing both Peru and Ecuador among the countries where tsunami waves could reach 0.3 to 1 meter (1 to 3 feet) above normal tide levels.
Pacific-Wide Tsunami Risk Under Investigation
The U.S. government's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami advisory for Hawaii. The bulletin said a major tsunami is not expected, but "sea level changes and strong currents" may endanger swimmers and boaters Thursday.The agency projects the first tsunami waves to arrive around 3:11 a.m. Hawaiian time (9:11 a.m. EDT) Thursday. Tsunami waves around Hawaii are expected to be in the 0.3- to 1-meter (1- to 3-foot) range.
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said state officials are standing by, awaiting updates from the warning center.
On the Big Island, officials were bracing to be the first island affected, county spokesman Ilihia Gionson said. Officials were gathered Wednesday in the county's emergency operations center in Hilo, he said.
"It's too early to tell," he said. "This early it's best to just stay informed."
The U.S. government's National Tsunami Warning Center, which issues tsunami bulletins for the west coast of North America, is still investigating whether there is the threat of a tsunami to the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Chile's Earthquake History
A magnitude-8.8 quake and ensuing tsunami in south-central Chile in 2010 killed more than 500 people, destroyed 220,000 homes, and washed away docks, riverfronts and seaside resorts. That quake released so much energy, it actually it shortened the Earth's day by a fraction of a second by changing the planet's rotation.The quake had huge ramifications, both political and practical, prompting the Andean nation to improve its alert systems for both quakes and tsunamis.
Chile is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries because just off the coast, the Nazca tectonic plate plunges beneath the South American plate, pushing the towering Andes cordillera to ever-higher altitudes.
The strongest earthquake ever recorded on Earth happened in Chile - a magnitude-9.5 tremor in 1960 that killed more than 5,000 people.
This is a breaking news story. Check this page frequently for further updates.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
MORE: Earthquake and Tsunami in Chile, Sept. 16, 2015 (PHOTOS)
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