(Santiago de Chile, September 22. EFE) .- The number of victims of the earthquake of magnitude 8.4 on the Richter scale and subsequent tsunami last Wednesday in northern Chile increased from 9000 to 13,393, while the death toll stood at 13, according to an assessment released today by the Chilean authorities.
They stated that 814 houses were completely destroyed, 3,351 others were less habitable and 1,005 damage but more damage can not be recovered.
The statement issued by the Administration (Governor) of the region of Coquimbo, 458 kilometers north of Santiago, also realized the problems affecting basic services.
It indicates that 1,183 homes in several municipalities of this city are still without electricity supply and 26 schools in the region can not function.
Coquimbo port is disabled, while 17 of the 31 creeks of the region for damage with inability to work and almost a hundred artisanal vessels are stricken, the paper concludes.
Since the earthquake occurred, the affected area has been rocked by more than 500 aftershocks, "and replicas should be expected for good weather," said the director of the Seismological Center at the University of Chile, Sergio Barrientos.
Speaking to Radio Cooperativa, Barrientos said the National Seismological Centre is analyzing geographic images "of the earthquake of 2010, this earthquake and the earthquake in Iquique 2014, to map the movement, that is, how it enters the Nazca plate under the South American plate. "
While moving the main earthquake is less, increases the release of energy "in the form of slightly higher aftershocks of magnitude six or greater," he said Barrientos.
The seismic history of this South American nation dates back to October 28, 1562, when 2,000 people died in the area of Concepcion, 520 kilometers south of Santiago.
Chile is considered one of the most seismic countries in the world and from colonial times has had at least 80 earthquakes, which only in the last 60 years have caused 40,731 fatalities.