Tsunami warning in southern Chile after strong earthquake at sea

Chilean authorities called on Friday to evacuate the coast of the Magallanes region, in the extreme south of the country, after declaring a tsunami alert due to a 7.5 magnitude earthquake at sea.

The earthquake was registered at 9H58 local time (12H58 GMT) in the sea, 218 km south of the town of Puerto Williams (about 2,500 km south of Santiago), and at a depth of 10 km, according to the National Seismological Center, dependent on the University of Chile.

According to the Chilean institution, the earthquake was of magnitude 7.5. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported a magnitude of 7.4.

Chile's National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) and Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Navy (SHOA) declared an evacuation alert.

"WARNING! #SENAPRED due to tsunami threat, requests to evacuate sector of the coastal edge of the Region of #Magallanes," wrote the agency on its account on the social network X.

Shortly after Senapred requested to "evacuate beach area of the Antarctic Territory."

Chilean President Gabriel Boric reinforced the call for evacuation with a message on X.

"We call to evacuate coastal edge in the entire region of Magallanes. At this time our duty is to prevent and to listen to the authorities," he wrote.

Chile is one of the countries with more earthquakes in the world. Three tectonic plates converge in its territory: Nazca, South American and Antarctic.

In 1960, the city of Valdivia (south) was devastated by a 9.5 magnitude earthquake, considered the most powerful ever recorded, which killed 9,500 people.

In 2010, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake, followed by a tsunami, left more than 520 people dead.