GW students studying in Chile safe after natural disaster

Authorities reported one death in a town north of the capital. Adobe structures were destroyed, and cars were dragged by the quake and subsequent powerful waves that slammed into coastal towns. Some homes were damaged as well.

He said the government sends its condolences to their relatives.

Moya said he and his wife were in bed and watching television when the quake hit.

Parts of coastal Hawaii and Southern California experienced higher than usual tide fluctuations since a massive 8.3-magnitude quake struck off the central coast of Chile late Wednesday, according to the Weather Channel.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby has said via Twitter that the United States stands “Ready to assist as needed”.

Chile’s national emergency agency issued an evacuation notice for the country’s coastal regions and more than one million have found refuge in shelters.

Orange County beaches, harbors, piers and marinas were reopened at 6 a.m., but swimmers and boaters were warned that strong currents could continue. Waves of less than a metre were also expected in Hawaii on Thursday, it added.

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

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.

The first video shows shoppers evacuating a Santiago mall.

Coquimbo Mayor Cristian Galleguillos told CNN Chile the city was starting to see flooding and 95 percent of the city had lost electrical power.

Resident Andres Corts shared this video of residents evacuating an apartment building in Santiago. New Zealand, which is some 6,000 miles away from the quake’s epicenter, was on guard for possible tsunami waves as well.

“Everybody ran outside. The windows rattled”. But it had many orders of magnitude less impact on human life and property. “Even after I stepped outside, I felt the ground moving”.

The powerful natural disaster shook Chile’s capital, causing buildings to sway and people to take refuge in the streets.