Tsunami alert in Japan after Chile earthquake!
After a powerful earthquake hit Chile on Wednesday, tsunami waves continued to navigate across the Pacific-Ocean instigating evacuations in Japan. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami advisory for the entire Pacific coast of Japan. Although, a major tsunami is not anticipated, local officials have advised evacuation in a number of low-lying areas in the Pacific coast. Atleast 20,000 people fall under the orders.
Chile, located in the continent of South-America is one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world. Nazca tectonic-plate just off the coast of Chile plunges beneath the South-American plate, pushing the Andes-cordillera to higher altitudes, making it vulnerable. Thereby, it lies in the Pacific "Ring of Fire"- an arc of fault-lines that circles the Pacific-basin which are prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanoes.
There have been repeated earthquakes in Chile since several centuries. The strongest earthquake ever recorded on earth with magnitude of 9.5 was at Chile in 1960 that killed more than 5000 people. In 2010, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake ensuing tsunami struck South-Central Chile killing more than 500 people, destroying 220,000 homes and causing massive destruction to infrastructure. Chile improved its alert-system post the earthquake.
The 2010 Chile earthquake released so much energy that it shortened the length of the earth's day by a fraction of second by changing the earth's rotation!
A terrifying earthquake of 8.3 magnitude hit Chile's coast, killing atleast 11 people, injuring 9 and destroying almost 526 homes. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth with the epicentre being 177 miles north of the capital city, Santiago and was felt more than 2100 miles away including Sao Paulo and Brazil. It caused extensive damage to the city's main port.
As the earthquake hit Chile, the authorities were forced to evacuate residents along the 2690 mile coast after tsunami warnings were issued. The National Emergency Service of Chile ordered the immediate evacuation of the coasts well as the Easter-Island and the Archipelago Juan Fernandez. The under-secretary of the interior, Mahmud Aleuy ratified that one million had been evacuated and 243,000 homes had lost electric-power.
Hours after the earthquake at Chile, tsunami waves upto 4.5 metres (15 feet) came gushing into Coquimbo region, 400 kilometres north of Santiago. Waves of differing intensity hit parts of different cities as people moved from lower-ground to higher-ground on foot and vehicles. The tsunami flooded many parts of Chile, causing extensive damage to the city-port, fishing-wharf and a lot of area in downtown.
