A powerful earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale rocked central Chile around 19:54 local time. Several strong aftershocks were also reported in span of few minutes later.
As per media reports, five people have been killed so far.
Sighting the magnitude of the quake, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has also issued Tsunami warning. As per the center, there is a possibility of waves reaching more than 3 metres above the tide level along some coasts of Chile.
Following this, Tsunami alerts were also issued for far off areas such as Peru, Hawaii, parts of California and New Zealand too.
Earthquake was centered off the coast that was around 232 km northwest of the capital city of Santiago, with a depth of 10 km.
Also read: Top 8 deadliest earthquakes of the century
Local authorities were swung into the action for rescue operations. Thousands of residents were evacuated from the affected areas and were shifted to relief shelters. The tremors of quake was also strongly felt in some provinces of Argentina.
Chile falls in one of the most seismically active zones around the world. The country is situated along the boundary between Nazca and South American tectonic plates.
Back in February 2010, a 8.8-magnitude had hit central Chile that had taken over 500 lives.
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