A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit the area near Antarctica in the well-known Drake Passage, causing shockwaves that reached as far as Chile. The seismic event occurred at 8:29 pm as reported by the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences.
The Drake Passage spans 500 miles between Cape Horn in South America and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica, earning the reputation as the world’s most challenging sea route. It was named after the English explorer Sir Francis Drake, despite him never traversing it.
The US Tsunami Warning System has cautioned that tsunami waves could affect coastlines within 1000km of the earthquake’s epicenter in the Drake Passage. In response to the earthquake, the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA) has issued a tsunami alert for the southern Chilean coasts.
A map indicates the location of the earthquake which occurred approximately 153 miles off the coast of Antarctica at 8:29 pm. The epicenter was at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles) according to the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences.