(ETH) – Authorities in Chile accidentally spread panic after issuing a tsunami warning that called for people to get out of coastal areas following a massive magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck in Antarctica.
According to Reuters, The interior ministry made the decision to issue a tsunami warning after the quake struck at 8.36 p.m. 216 km northeast of the O’Higgins, leading the Chilean scientific base to call for the coastal regions of Antarctica to be evacuated because of tsunami risk.
The message was also reportedly sent out to residents’ cellphones around the country prompting people to abandon coastal areas. “We want to provide peace of mind to the population, tell them that it is not necessary to evacuate the entire national territory, only the Antarctic base,”
Miguel Ortiz of the ministry’s National Emergency Office (ONEMI) told a news conference. Ortiz stated that the agency regretted the inconvenience caused by its false warnings which he blamed on a technical error that resulted in the tsunami warning for Antarctica later being lifted.
The false alarm caused many that lived in coastal cities including La Serena, to the north of Santiago, and Valparaiso, to leave areas close to the coast after the warning until reports started appearing that it was a false alarm.
