Santiago, Chile | The Chilean authorities announced raising the alert for evacuation due to the absence of a tsunami risk, following the strong earthquake that occurred on Saturday evening in Antarctica near the Chilean base of Eduardo Fray.
He said on Twitter that the National Emergency Office (UNEMI) “canceled the evacuation of the tsunami in coastal sectors of Antarctica.”
The earthquake was recorded at 8:36 PM (6:36 PM in Quebec) at sea, about 210 kilometers east of this base, and 10 kilometers deep, according to the enemy, which reassessed the strength of the earthquake from 7 to 7.1.
Onemi reported that due to this earthquake, 80 people were evacuated from the Eduardo Frei base, plus a total of 81 more people were evacuated from three other Chilean bases (O’Higgins, Fildes, and Prat).
In addition, five more foreign bases were evacuated, with Onime not specifying their nationalities.
The Chilean Eduardo Frei Air Force Base is located 1,230 km south of the continent, on King George Island. It is the largest Chilean base in this region. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the village of Villa Las Estrellas which includes, among others, a hospital, a school, a bank, a small supermarket, a post office and a chapel.
The maximum population in summer is 150 persons and the average population in winter is 80 persons.
Meanwhile, at 9:07 pm (7:07 pm in Quebec), another magnitude 5.9 earthquake occurred 14 km from Santiago de Chile, at a depth of 122 km, unrelated to the strong earthquake in Antarctica.
Onemi noted that with regard to this earthquake, which occurred near the Chilean capital, “no damage to people or any deterioration in basic services or infrastructure has been reported,” and that “technical organizations are assessing the regional situation.”
Chile, one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world, was hit by a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 in Concepcion on February 27, 2010, leaving more than 500 people dead.
Sixty years ago, this South American country suffered the strongest earthquake, with a magnitude of 9.6, in Valdivia, southern Chile.