A powerful earthquake of 7.4 magnitude occurred in the Drake Passage, the water source that separates South America and Antarctica. Following the earthquake, Chilean authorities issued a tsunami warning for the southern region of the country on Friday morning local time.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers at a distance of 219 kilometers from the city of Ushuaia in Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province and 219 kilometers from the city of Puerto Williams in Chile.
'Please be careful! "Due to the danger of a tsunami, evacuate the coastal area of the Magallanes region and go to a safe place," Chile's disaster management agency Senaprade wrote on its social media account.
President Gabriel Boric has called on his X account to 'vacate the beaches throughout the Magallanes region'. Chile's National Seismological Center said the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.4, slightly below the magnitude of 7.5.
The earthquake occurred at 9:58 am local time and after that several small aftershocks were also recorded.
Located at the southern tip of South America, the Magallanes region is Chile's second largest but least populated region, and is adjacent to Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province.
The governor's office of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego said, "The shock of the earthquake was felt mainly in the city of Ushuaia and to some extent in other cities of Tierra province."
Chile is one of the countries most affected by the earthquake. Three tectonic plates including Nazca, South America, and Antarctica are contained within its territory.
In 1960, a 9.5 magnitude earthquake struck the southern city of Valdivia, killing at least 9,500 people. The earthquake is considered to be the most powerful so far.
In 2010, more than 520 people died in an 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the central coast of Chile.
