After an earthquake shook Antarctica on Saturday night, the Chilean National Emergency Office (Onemi) issued a nationwide tsunami warning by “error.”
The Chilean government announced on Sunday that it is investigating the causes of a false tsunami alert sent across the country that caused evacuations after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Antarctica and a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. center of this nation on Saturday night.
After the strong tremor that shook Antarctica at 20:36 (23:36 GMT), the National Emergency Office of Chile (Onemi) issued a tsunami warning that sent text messages nationwide to evacuate the beaches of the Chilean coasts.
However, the confusion increased in the citizenry as after receiving the message, an earthquake was recorded in Farellones, near the capital.
Minutes later, the Chilean authorities clarified that this was a mistake as the evacuation was only for the coasts of Antarctica.
But the alert was sent to much of the country’s 18 million people, prompting evacuations to the country’s shores, with people leaving frightened on foot and in vehicles fearful of a tsunami. . A series of criticisms were generated on social media in the face of unleashed panic.
READ MORE: Tsunami alert after strong magnitude 7 earthquake near Chilean base in Antarctica
Videos circulating on the web show the moment of chaos that broke out in some cities, including Cartagena, La Serena, Lloca and Talcahuano, the latter being hit hard by the last earthquake of February 27, 2010, says the portal biobiochile . cl.
“We regret that people have had to evacuate untimely”, Interior Minister Rodrigo Delgado said at a news conference on Sunday.
Delgado ruled out that it was a human error and pointed out that there was a technical error on the part of the external company in charge of sending the information so that the Chilean telephone companies could sound the alarm.
“We will hold responsible those who have to answer for this failure”, He stated.
The failure reminded me of another similar episode. On February 27, 2010, no alert was issued for a tsunami that devastated the southern coasts of Chile after a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake that left more than 500 dead and some 220,000 homes destroyed.
The Antarctic earthquake affected 160 people who were evacuated from nine Chilean bases and other nationalities who were not harmed.
Meanwhile, the quake in the center of the country was felt in Santiago and four other regions where no damage was recorded.
Onemi clarified that there was no link between the two earthquakes.
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