A strong 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit north-central Chile on Saturday, January 19, 2019, with police reporting the deaths of two people from heart attacks. The quake struck at a depth of 53 kilometers (33 miles) with an epicenter some 15 km southwest of Coquimbo.
An elderly man and an elderly woman from Coquimbo suffered cardiac arrests as a result of the quake. The main quakes and aftershocks produced several landslides, blocking national highways.
The earthquake, which hit at 0132 GMT (Sunday), was felt in Valparaiso, O’Higgins and the region of the capital Santiago, as well as in Atacama and Coquimbo up north.
Thousands of homes lost power, which showed how intense the quake was.
Residents in Coquimbo and neighboring Serena, a coastal region about 500 kilometers from Santiago, evacuated to high ground even though authorities quickly ruled out a tsunami, according to local media.
The Coquimbo region experienced a tsunami in September 2015 after a M8.3 earthquake struck, killing a dozen people.
Here consequences of this strong earthquake in pictures:
Chile is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries as it lies on the Ring of Fire. The 1960 Valdivia earthquake in Chile was the strongest ever recorded, at M9.5. Luckily, the quake wasn’t shallow!
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[USGS]
Rolling on. Earth walks with a #Limp wobbling tilt, the real reason for tides. Oahspe