Earlier Wednesday, two deaths were reported. A 25-year-old woman was killed in the town of Illapel after a wall fell on her in a restaurant and a 86-year-old man died of heart attack during the earthquake in the town of Maipu, in Santiago Province.
Later, as police made their way to other sectors and hospitals provided updates, three more were found dead, including a 66-year-old woman who died of heart attack, El Mercurio daily reported.
In a speech, Bachelet lamented that "once again, we are facing a hard blow from nature."
She said a full analysis of the damage and loss of human lives in the earthquake was being conducted by the Interior Ministry, praising the smoothness and speed with which emergency measures were put in place.
"While we are evaluating whether to declare a state of emergency, disaster zones have been declared for all the areas affected," Bachelet said.
With Chile set to celebrate its annual "Fiestas Patrias" -- Chile's Independence Day celebrations -- on Sept. 18 and 19, Bachelet warned that such activities may not be safe in the zones affected by the earthquake and consequent flooding.
"There could still be strong aftershocks," she warned. "There are areas in which it would be difficult and dangerous to hold such a celebration. Our recommendation is that those who have been evacuated remain on high ground."
The Interior Ministry has assembled its emergency operations committee, and Interior Minister Jorge Burgos has gone to the affected areas.
The US Geological Service (USGS) reported the earthquake as being 8.3-magnitude, but the University of Chile's Geology Center raised it later to 8.4 degrees.
According to the USGS, the epicenter was out at sea, 70.8 km northwest of the town of Illapel and 246 km from Santiago.
When the quake occurred, buildings shook, windows broke and people poured onto the streets in the country's major cities, including Valparaiso and Santiago. The quake was felt as far as the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.
A tsunami alert has been issued by the Interior Ministry for the country's entire coastline, extending to the entire west coast of South America, Hawaii, and New Zealand.
After the tsunami alert, waves of around 4 meters high hit the port town of Coquimbo, and smaller ones flooded seaside streets in Valparaiso and Concon two hours after the initial tremor.
Buildings near and at risk areas, including Easter Island and the Juan Fernandez islands, were evacuated and thousands of people headed to higher ground. Numerous power cuts and traffic jams were reported up and down the coast.
Most schools across Chile suspended classes for Thursday as a precautionary measure and vulnerable hospitals and prisons were also evacuated.
In the town of Constitution, which was largely flattened during a major earthquake in 2010, hospitals and prisons have been evacuated as a precaution.
The airport of Santiago was initially evacuated but an inspection reported no damage and flights were resumed, albeit with delays.
Bernardo Leyton, mayor of Canela in the region of Coquimbo, told Radio Cooperative that a number of houses in his town have suffered extensive damage and roads have been cut off.
Landslides cut off a section of the Pan-American Highway near Illapel. Looting was reported in the towns of Illapel and Canela.
In 2010, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in central Chile killed more than 500 people and destroyed 220,000 houses.
Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
17/9/15
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Magnitude 8.3 quake hits off coast of Chile. Tsunami Warning...
The quake shook buildings in the capital city of Santiago, about 280km to the south of the epicentre, and flooded some coastal areas under a tsunami warning, which has since been lifted....
- Un million de personnes évacuées au Chili après un puissant séisme....
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Chile lifted the tsunami warning early on Thursday it had put in place after Wednesday's major earthquake, the government said....
ReplyDelete"The tsunami warning is lifted for all national territory," the government's National Emergency Office said in a tweet.
More than a million people were evacuated from their homes after the magnitude 8.3 quake struck in the Pacific Ocean off Chile, slamming powerful waves into coastal towns and killing at least five people.
REUTERS