Coastal regions of southern Chile were told to evacuate after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake was recorded on Friday, May 2, off the coasts of Argentina and Chile, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The earthquake struck along the Drake Passage, which runs between South America and Antarctica, just before 9 a.m. ET. USGS pinpointed the location at 136 miles south of Ushuaia, a town located on the southern tip of Argentina.
Chile's National Disaster Prevention and Response Service said a coastal area of Magallanes region in the southern tip of the country should be evacuated due to the risk of a tsunami. Chilean President Gabriel Boric echoed the calls for evacuation in coastal parts of the Magallanes region, adding that resources would be made available to deal with any impact.
The U.S. Tsunami Warning center issued a tsunami threat for the region, saying that tsunami waves of about 3 to 10 feet above the tide level are possible along some coasts of Chile. Waves of a meter or less above tide level are possible for parts of the Antarctica coast.