Several regions still have the recommendation not to approach the coastline.
This Sunday morning, the National Emergency Office of Chile (Onemi) reported that the tsunami alert decreed yesterday, Saturday, in six regions was ended after the eruption of a volcano in Tonga, which forced the evacuation of almost the entire population. coastline of the country.
Pending an official assessment by the authorities, for now no victims have been reported and in some areas the loss of minor infrastructure such as small docks and dikes was recorded, according to images broadcast through social networks.
With this announcement, the “red alert” is lifted in six regions and the security level of 30 meters high, but the “state of caution” is maintained, a lower degree on the risk scale, at five points.
Arica and Parinacota, Atacama and Coquimbo (to the north), and Ñuble and Biobío (center) are the regions that still have the recommendation not to approach the coastline.
In the last press conference on Saturday, the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA) reported that the largest waves, almost two meters, had already reached the beaches of some cities in the north, such as Iquique or Chañaral.
However, the authorities assured that there was no way to predict the time of impact in the rest of the regions and asked the population to stock up with emergency backpacks to spend the night.
In total, the evacuation of the coasts was ordered in 14 of the 16 regions of Chile (a country that has more than 6,400 kilometers of coastline) in addition to Antarctica, Easter Island, the Juan Fernández archipelago and San Félix Island, all located in the Pacific.
On the island of Tonga, in the South Pacific, the eruption of the volcano caused a fierce tsunami with waves that hit the coasts hard and hit the houses and buildings on the beachfront in northern Tongatapu for a few minutes.
The phenomenon was also noted in Japan, with waves that exceeded a meter in height, and in other countries such as the United States and Canada, with strong waves and slight flooding. (I)
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