Chile's coast evacuated again after second strong earthquake

Tsunami alert issued for coast of Chile and Peru

Sunken fishing boats are seen on April 2, 2014 at the Riquelme Cove, in Iquique, northern Chile, after a powerful 8.2-magnitude earthquake hit off Chile's Pacific coast Photo: AFP

Bonnie Malkin and agencies 

 5:05AM BST 03 Apr 2014

 

A strong 7.8 magnitude earthquake has struck off northern Chile, prompting authorities to again order the evacuation of large swaths of the coastline.

The quake, the largest of a series of aftershocks following a powerful and deadly 8.2 magnitude quake that hit a day earlier, was located 12 miles (19 km) south of the port of Iquique at a relatively shallow depth of 12.4 miles (20 km), the USGS said. It was earlier reported as a 7.4 magnitude quake.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no widespread tsunami threat, but that the latest tremor could generate a local tsunami.

Chile's emergency office said it had ordered a preventative evacuation of the northern coastal area and declared a tsunami alert. Peru also issued a tsunami warning for its southern coast.

Chile's president Michele Bachelet was among the hundreds evacuated from the coast. She had been visiting the region to survey the damage wrought by the earlier earthquake and tsunami

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