Chile sent cargo planes with medicine and tents to a northern Andean region rocked by an earthquake that killed at least 11 people, including a family of six buried by a landslide.
The quake measured 7,9 on the Richter scale — the world’s third-strongest since the quake that set off the Asian tsunami in December — and struck on Monday evening, also rattling cities in Bolivia and Peru. The quake was centered in a sparsely populated area in northern Chile, about 1500km north of the capital of Santiago.
The government’s Emergency Bureau saidon Tuesday at least 130 people were injured, and many more required attention for panic attacks. The quake caused power outages and disrupted water supplies to parts of the Andean region, officials said.
Landslides set off by the quake blocked roads, but military cargo planes flew in 15 tonmes of medicines, tents, mattresses and blankets, the Emergency Bureau said.
At least 11 people were killed, including an 80-year-old disabled man and a nine-month-old baby, the government said.
An entire family of six died in a landslide near the port city of Iquique. Authorities said they had stopped by a road to put flowers where a man had earlier been killed in a traffic accident. Placing flowers at an accident site is a Chilean tradition.
Raul Lanas, who lives in the village of Huara, told Radio Cooperativa of Santiago that nearly 60% of the houses there were destroyed or damaged. A nurse in the village said more than 20 people required medical aid.
The quake near Sumatra in Indonesia that spawned the December 26 tsunami measured 9,0. A deadly 8,7 quake struck the same area on March 28.
President Ricardo Lagos cut short a European tour and flew home to deal with the emergency. The tour was to have included visits to Spain and Netherlands. He was in Sweden when told of the quake. -Sapa-AP