
The
quake was measured at magnitude 8.2 by the U.S. Geological Survey and
Chile's National Earthquake Center. A tsunami warning was issued for the
entire Pacific coast of South America though authorities later
downgraded the tsunami threat to a minor danger.
Chile's
interior minister, Rodrigo Peñailillo, said five people had died
following the temblor, attributing the deaths to heart attacks or
crushing, the Associated Press reported.
A
wave measuring about six feet washed ashore in the port city of
Iquique, according to
Mahmud Aleuy,
Chile's deputy interior minister. He said officials had no
reports of injuries or major damage so far, though local radio reported a
few fires. Iquique, with some 180,000 residents, sits some 59 miles
from the quake's epicenter.
Chile
deployed armed forces to Iquique after some 300 inmates took advantage
of the chaos to flee a women's prison, according to Chile's Interior
Minister Rodrigo Peñailillo. He said the tsunami alert would last for at
least another six hours.
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