Argentina’s message after the earthquake in Antarctica: “The Navy and Air Force have been put on alert”

The Marambio base is permanently inhabited all year round

Shortly after the news broke that an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 on the Richter scale shook Antarctica this Saturday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic (EMCO) issued a statement in which they reported that at the moment there are no reports of damage from national bases in that continent and specified that they made all their means available to help “In the event that it is necessary” to the scientific centers of Chile, also affected by the earthquake.

Through social networks, the military authorities indicated that the Antarctic Joint Command It is still “without news in terms of personnel and material” settled in the Argentine facilities, after the strong earthquake that occurred in the area.

“Likewise, it is reported that the Navy and Air Force have been placed on alert as a preventive measure in the event of new seismic movements,” they specified in the agency’s official Twitter account.

In this sense, they advanced that, “following instructions and coordinating with the EMCO, The Air Force has made all its air resources available to assist in the eventuality that may be necessary, at the Frei Base in Chile ”, like any other scientific headquarters “that has been affected by the earthquake registered” recently.

The Eduardo Frei Base of the Chilean Air Force is located 1,230 km south of the continent, on King George Island. It is the largest Chilean base in this territory which also includes Villa Las Estrellas, a hospital, a school, a bank, a small supermarket, a post office and a chapel, among other services.

The maximum population in summer is 150 people, and the average population in winter is 80. In this context, and as a consequence of this important earthquake that occurred in Antarctica, the Government of Chile decided to issue an emergency alert for a possible tsunami in that place, although it later lifted it after the threat was canceled.

The National Emergency Office (Onemi) explained that the earthquake took place 216 kilometers northeast of the O’higgins base, the largest that country has on the frozen continent, at 8:36 p.m. (23:36 GMT), at a depth of 10 kilometres.

The tremor was registered in the middle of the sea, about 210 km east of the Eduardo Frei Base, at a depth of 10 km, so minutes later the agency requested “Leave the beach area of ​​the Antarctic territory” before the possible arrival of a tsunami.

However, shortly after the Onemi clarified on its Twitter account: “#SHOA (Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Navy) totally cancels the Tsunami Precautionary State. For its part, Onemi cancels evacuation due to tsunami in the coastal sectors of the Antarctic territory ”.

At the moment, the authorities did not report material damage or injuries as a result of the movements, although it generated alarm among the population. The Onemi said that the earthquake in the central area did not meet the conditions for a tsunami.

At the same time, at 21:07 hours (00:07 GMT) there was another similar phenomenon, although of magnitude 5.9, in Santiago that was not related to the strong earthquake in Antarctica, but what was felt in Chile and in some parts of Argentina, as in the city of Barreal, in San Juan, and in the capital of Mendoza, as well as in the department of Tunuyán, of this same province.

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