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Chile earthquake news: A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Chile's Drake Passage between Cape Horn and Antarctica at a depth of just 10 km on Friday, the United States Geological Survey said. Chile's National Disaster Prevention and Response Service said a coastal area of Magallanes region in the southern tip of the country should be evacuated due to the risk of a tsunami. The tremors were also felt in Argentia

"We're calling to evacuate the coast in the whole region of Magallanes," President Gabriel Boric said on X, adding that all the state's resources would be made available to deal with any impact.

VIDEO: Massive earthquake hits Chile 

Videos on social media showed people calmly evacuating as sirens blared in the background. Chile's Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (SHOA) estimated that waves will reach bases in Antarctica and cities in Chile's extreme south in the coming hours. Chile's Antarctic Institute (INAHC) told news agency Reuters that bases were being evacuated.

Chile, like other countries around the Pacific Rim's "ring of fire" earthquake zone, has a long history of major quakes, including the strongest recorded in recent history.

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Chile has history of big earthquakes

More than 3,800 years ago, a massive 9.5-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami with waves as high as 20 meters (66 feet) slammed the coastline of Chile's Atacama desert, the world's driest, according to study led by the University of Chile academics.

The study, published in 2022, posits that a collision between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates produced the quake and 15-20-meter (49-66-feet) high tsunami waves.

"At various points along the coast of the regions of Antofagasta and northern Chile, in general, there are paleobeaches or ancient beaches located between 4 and 7 meters (13 and 23 feet) above current sea level, whose formation cannot be explained by global changes in sea level, but by tectonic uplift as a result of large earthquakes," said geologist Gabriel Easton, one of the study's leaders.

Easton underscored that the possibility of earthquakes and tsunamis of this magnitude needs to be taken into account in hazard and risk assessment in northern Chile. "Our hypothesis is that this event could have generated a very high mortality among people, or it could have also prompted the migration of a significant number of people to other territories," said archaeologist Diego Salazar.

(With inputs from agency)

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