After the earthquake that hit Antarctica on Saturday evening, the Chilean National Emergency Office (Onemi) “accidentally” issued a national tsunami warning.
The Chilean government announced this Sunday that it is investigating the causes of a false tsunami alarm sent nationwide that triggered evacuations after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Antarctica and a 5.8 earthquake which was registered in the center of that country.
After the strong earthquake that shook Antarctica at 8:36 p.m. (11:36 p.m. GMT), the Chilean National Emergency Office (Onemi) issued a tsunami warning sending text messages across the country to evacuate the beaches of the Chilean coast .
However, confusion among the public increased as an earthquake was recorded in Farellones, near the capital, upon receipt of the message.
Minutes later, the Chilean authorities made it clear that it was a mistake as the evacuation was only off the coasts of Antarctica.
But the warning was sent to much of the country’s 18 million residents, prompting evacuations along the country’s coasts, leaving people terrified on foot and in vehicles, fearful of a tsunami coming. A series of criticisms were generated in social networks in light of the panic that had arisen.
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Videos circulating on the internet show the moment of chaos that erupted in some cities, including Cartagena, La Serena, Lloca and Talcahuano, the latter badly hit by the latest earthquake of February 27, 2010, the biobiochile portal points out. Cl.
“We regret that people had to evacuate early”That said Minister Rodrigo Delgado of the Interior at a press conference on Sunday.
Delgado ruled out that it was human error and pointed out that a technical error had been made by the outside company responsible for sending the information to Chilean telephone companies to issue the alarm.
“We’re going to hold those responsible for this failure”, he claimed.
The failure reminded me of another similar episode. On February 27, 2010, there was no warning of a tsunami that engulfed Chile’s south coast after a powerful 8.8 earthquake that killed more than 500 and destroyed about 220,000 homes.
The Antarctic earthquake hit 160 people who were evacuated from nine Chilean bases and from other nationalities who had not been damaged.
Meanwhile, the quake was felt in the center of the country 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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