7.4 magnitude quake off Chile's far south briefly triggers tsunami alert but causes no damage

SANTIAGO, Chile — A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck in the South Atlantic Ocean off Chile and Argentina on Friday, prompting thousands in Chile to evacuate parts of the sparsely populated coast for higher ground due to tsunami fears.

There were no reported damage or casualties from the earthquake that hit at 8:58 a.m. local time and triggered at least a dozen aftershocks.

Due to fears that the tremblor could generate a potential tsunami, the Chilean government issued an evacuation order for the coastline of the Strait of Magellan, at the southern tip of South America, and for the country's bases and research stations on the Antarctic peninsula.

Chilean authorities withdrew the warning later Friday after determining that no tsunami was occurring, allowing people to trickle back to their homes even as officials continued to caution the public to steer clear of boardwalks and beaches.

''Although the state of the emergency has been downgraded ... it's very important to remain alert to official communications," Chilean President Gabriel Boric wrote on social media platform X. ''In these cases, it's always better to be safe than sorry.''

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was shallow, at just 10 kilometers (6 miles) under the seabed, and it struck about 219 kilometers (173 miles) south of Argentina's southernmost city of Ushuaia, the remote outpost from which most Antarctic cruises set sail.

The U.S. monitoring agency said it expected waves to reach up to 3 meters high. The Chilean government estimated the waves would first hit bases in Antarctica before reaching Chile's southernmost naval station of Puerto Williams and, on Saturday morning, lashing the coast off the larger town of Punta Arenas along the Strait of Magellan, the key waterway connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Local news stations aired footage of residents in Punta Arenas calmly making their way toward shelters and evacuation points on higher ground as sirens blared in the background. Schools in the region closed for the day.

Chile's police force also shared footage of an officer pushing a man in a wheelchair up a hill in desolate Puerto Williams.

Chile's national disaster response service, Senapred, reported the evacuation of some 2,000 residents before it downgraded the warnings, with 32 people following procedures from Chile's Antarctic research bases.

Boric, who is from the city of Punta Arenas, suspended his normal agenda on Friday and called an emergency committee meeting to address the earthquake. ''All state resources are available,'' he said.

As one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world, Chile has built up its preparedness for earthquakes and tsunamis spawned over the years by the tectonic plates clashing under the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

____

Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre and Débora Rey in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.

____

Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america