More than a million people have been evacuated from their homes after a magnitude-8.3 quake struck the South American country of Chile.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said yesterday’s shallow quake hit west of Illapel, 228 kilometres north of the capital, Santiago, which is home to 6.6 million people.
The quake killed 11 people but hundreds have been injured and many homes left devastated.
Officials say 1800 people in Illapel were left without drinking water.
The authorities were quick to issue tsunami alerts to avoid repeating the slow response to the country’s 8.8-magnitude quake in 2010, in which more than 500 people died – many as a result of a tsunami triggered by the massive tremor.
The resulting tsunami did hit Chile, with huge 4.5m waves hitting the coastline. The port of Coquimbo suffered major damage.
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