Chileans deal with aftermath of 8.3-magnitude earthquake

The tremor was so strong that people in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the other side of the continent, reported feeling it, as did people in Peru and Brazil.

Burgos said evacuation of coastal towns and cities had been ordered as a precautionary measure.

In the coastal town of Coquimbo, waves of 4.7m (15ft) hit the shore.

The following videos show eyewitness footage of panic settling in as the quake hit Chile.

Yesterday’s quake struck just offshore in the Pacific and was centered about 228 kilometres north-northwest of Santiago.

“We’re going to have go on the ground to see that the damages are and see where help is needed”, Bachelet said. New Zealand’s Chatham Islands measured a wave height of 1.2 on Owenga.

Tsunami advisories for Hawaii and California were dropped Thursday following a powerful quake off Chile, while minor effects were recorded along coasts as far north as Alaska. Waves of less than a metre were also expected in Hawaii on Thursday, it added.

There have been dozens of aftershocks.

Authorities said 10 people had been killed, mostly in the areas closest to the epicenter, from causes ranging from a collapsed adobe house to heart attacks.

A Reuters witness said the quake shook buildings in Chile’s capital, Santiago.

Small boat harbors were not closed and there were no reports of any damages. We have residential neighborhoods that have flooded.

There were no casulties because residents evacuated before waves started hitting the coastline, but Coquimbo Mayor Cristian Galleguillos reported that the city did lose power.

Bachelet’s government was also slow to prevent looting following the quake.

Chile is located on what geologists call the Ring of Fire in the Pacific, where tectonic plates meet each other and friction leads to earthquakes and volcanic activity, so the country is no stranger to such disasters.

ShelterBox last responded in Chile earlier this year when the Calbuco volcano erupted three times in eight days, and the usually arid area of Atacama suffered intense rainfall causing flash flooding and landslides. We apologise for the error.