Chile braces for Antarctic tsunami with coastal evacuation underway after huge 7.5-magnitude earthquake

Officials fear a huge tsunami could be heading for Chile after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Argentina.

The warning came after the quake struck around 200km (124miles) south of Puerto Williams, near Chile’s southern tip, at 9am local time. 

Chilean disaster authorities said the coastal area of the Magallanes Region in Southern Chile would have to be evacuated due to the tsunami risk. 

National threat evaluation systems said that tsunami waves from this quake may appear within 300km (186miles) of the epicentre.  

The National Disaster Prevention and Response System added that it will ‘continue to assess the impact on people and damage to infrastructure and basic services’.  

The country’s president Gabriel Boric, a native of the area, wrote on his X account that: ‘We call for the evacuation of the coastline throughout the Magallanes Region.’ 

‘Right now, our duty is to prevent and heed the authorities. Regional and national COGRID are just getting started. All state resources are available,’ he added.