Late Tuesday night, a tremendous earthquake struck off the coast of northern Chile, near the town of Iquique. The magnitude 8.2 quake triggered a localized tsunami that battered the coastline with seven-foot waves. The shallow temblor (12.5 miles below the seabed) also set off dozens of aftershocks -- 18 of them above magnitude 5.0 so far, including a magnitude 7.6 aftershock last night. Surprisingly, damage and casualties were very limited. Several fires erupted, smaller structures suffered minimal damage, and six deaths were reported -- the victims were either crushed under debris or suffered fatal heart attacks. Today, Chile's navy cancelled a tsunami alert and its emergency office, Onemi, which had earlier asked residents to evacuate the coastline, said people could return to their homes.
The Aftermath of Chile's Earthquake
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Fishermen try to salvage their boats in the aftermath of an earthquake and tsunami that hit the northern port of Iquique, Chile, on April 2, 2014. The earthquake, with a magnitude of 8.2, struck off the coast of northern Chile near the copper exporting port of Iquique on Tuesday evening, killing six and triggering a tsunami that pounded the shore with 2-meter (7-foot) waves. #
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People embrace on the upper floor of an apartment building located a few blocks from the coast where they gathered to avoid a possible tsunami after an earthquake in Iquique, Chile, on April 1, 2014. #
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Women push a child in a grocery cart as the evacuate their homes after a strong aftershock in Iquique, on April 3, 2014. A powerful aftershock hit Chile's far-northern coast late Wednesday night, shaking the same area where a magnitude-8.2 earthquake hit just a day before causing some damage and six deaths. #
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Residents walk to higher ground after a 7.6 magnitude quake, following Tuesday's earthquake and tsunami, in Iquique on April 2, 2014. There were no reports of casualties or damage to infrastructure after the powerful 7.6 magnitude quake that triggered a tsunami alert, Chile's Onemi emergency office told Reuters on Thursday. The quake struck off northern Chile late on Wednesday, prompting tsunami alerts and evacuations along the coast and in neighboring Peru. #
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People from the town of Pozo al Monte, close to the city of Iquique, camp out on a stadium field on April 3, 2014, as earthquakes rocked the area over the last 48-hours. #
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A resident from the town of Pozo al Monte, close to the city of Iquique, camps out early on April 3, 2014, in fear of more quakes rocking the area. Chile's navy cancelled a tsunami alert for all of the coastline on Thursday following a strong 7.6 magnitude quake off the north of the country. It was the strongest of several aftershocks that followed a huge 8.2-magnitude quake blamed for six deaths in the same region on Tuesday. Chile's emergency office, Onemi, which had earlier asked residents to evacuate the coastline, said "people can return to their homes". #
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