An earthquake measured at a magnitude of 8.3 hit off the coast of Chile on Wednesday evening. Officials issued a tsunami alert for the entire 2,400-mile Chilean coast, as people in those low-lying areas quickly began moving to higher ground.
A tsunami watch has been issued for Hawaii, and the National Weather Service said, via CBS News, that a potential tsunami could reach Hawaii early Thursday morning.
Modeled tsunami travel times. The wave from the Chile earthquake will arrive in ~13 hours, or ~5 AM Thursday. pic.twitter.com/gmzgVWy56i
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) September 17, 2015
According to the Associated Press, one death has been reported in a town north of Santiago, the country’s capital.
Current view M8.3 Chile event and current aftershocks at http://t.co/RkDDCNWoJk pic.twitter.com/WhVYcIMSOT
— USGS (@USGS) September 17, 2015
The images coming in via social media showed flooding and other damage.
Llegó el primer tren de olas. El mar ya llegó a la Av. Borgoño en #Concón #Terremoto #Tsunami pic.twitter.com/IkTEa4xOc4
— Revista Decosta (@revistadecosta) September 17, 2015
La pileta de @Agus_Lavagna 😐 @todonoticias @cronicaweb @telefenoticias @C5N pic.twitter.com/WRH4O4K8tO
— Del 💚 (@DelfiiFenoy) September 17, 2015
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, via CNN, the epicenter of the earthquake was 34 miles west of the city of Illapel, Chile, and 4.8 miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The original earthquake reportedly caused buildings to shake in Santiago and other cities, including those in the neighboring country of Argentina, and three aftershocks were measured at more than a magnitude of 6.0.
This was the scene at a shopping mall in the city of Coquimbo, Chile, a coastal city that’s north of the epicenter.
Mall de la serena @24HorasTVN @christianpino @biobio @ pic.twitter.com/Tc4LH6Qc7s
— michael montero (@maikelsin) September 16, 2015
This was officials trying to rescue a person trapped underneath a tree.
En el forestal una enorme rama cayó sobre una persona y la dejo grave. Samu en el lugar @reddeemergencia pic.twitter.com/n6nZE4aASZ
— Mario (@mavillal) September 16, 2015
Australian rapper Urthboy is in Chile, and he tweeted about his experience as it was happening.
ok so that's what it feels like to experience an earthquake! #chile
— Urthboy (@urthboy) September 16, 2015
7.9 on the scale, everything's back to normal within 10 mins tho
— Urthboy (@urthboy) September 16, 2015
Amazing how soft the concrete felt beneath my feet.. like a 1000 trains in the subway below. Aftershocks now… whoa
— Urthboy (@urthboy) September 16, 2015
santiago is 100kms off the coast so no direct threat for me but… shit shit shit
— Urthboy (@urthboy) September 17, 2015
According to CNN, Chile has had more than a dozen earthquakes measured at a magnitude of more than 7.0 since 1973.
Update 8:54pm CT, Sept. 16: According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, via Hawaii’s KHON, a tsunami is not expected to impact the state of Hawaii.
Photo via Leslie Aguilera/Twitter