320,000 evacuated as Chile quake tsunami hits Japan

SENDAI, Japan Sunday

Japan evacuated more than 320,000 people today as a tsunami triggered by Chile’s massive earthquake sent waves up to 1.20 metres high barrelling into its long Pacific coastline.

Floodwaters inundated buildings and left cars stranded in eastern harbours on the main island of Honshu and on far-northern Hokkaido, while white-crested waves raced from the ocean up coastal rivers.

By nightfall, police had reported no casualties and authorities downgraded the threat a notch from a “major tsunami alert”, a warning of possible three-metre waves they had issued for the first time in over 15 years.

But more waves of one metre hit the coast after dark and thousands of people readied to spend the chilly winter night in their emergency shelters set up in town halls and school buildings.

Meanwhile, Chilean rescuers used shovels and sledgehammers today to find survivors of the earthquake.

Saturday’s quake, one of the most powerful in a century, killed more than 300 people and devastated homes and highways, dealing a heavy blow to infrastructure in the world’s Number One copper producer and one of Latin America’s most stable economies.

In the hard-hit city of Concepcion, about 100 people were feared trapped in a ruined apartment building and police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a crowd of looters carrying off food and electrical appliances from a supermarket. “People have gone days without eating,” Orlando Salazar said. “The only option is to come here and get stuff for ourselves.”

Two million people in Chile were affected by the 8.8-magnitude temblor, said President Michelle Bachelet, who added that it would take officials several days to evaluate the “enormous quantity of damage.”

Crushed cars, fallen power lines and rubble from wrecked buildings littered the streets of Concepcion, which has 670,000 inhabitants and lies 115 kilometres southwest of the quake’s epicentre.

Strong aftershocks

A string of strong aftershocks have rocked the country and strong one shook buildings in the capital, Santiago, early on Sunday. Thousands of Concepcion residents camped out in tents or makeshift shelters, fearing fresh tremors.

Firefighters used drills and shovels to search for signs of life in the rubble and battled to free dozens of people believed trapped in a collapsed apartment building. “We spent the whole night working, smashing through walls to find survivors. The biggest problem is fuel, we need fuel for our machinery and water for our people,” Commander Marcelo Plaza said.

The government faces the task of helping rebuild an estimated half a million homes that were severely damaged as well as hundreds of buckled roads and collapsed bridges.

The quake has raised a daunting first challenge for billionaire Sebastian Pinera, who was elected Chile’s president in January in a shift to the political right and who takes office in two weeks. (Agencies)