MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile: All tsunami warnings called off

Boric said he had faced pressure to lower the warning status

All tsunami threat warnings for Chile were completely canceled after the National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response (Senapred) confirmed Thursday that, based on data from sea level stations and other models, the emergency caused by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Russia has officially ended.

“SHOA indicates that according to information collected by sea level stations, the evolution of the tsunami wave propagation, field information, and modeling, tsunami threat alerts are completely canceled,” the Senapred posted on X. SHOA stands for the Navy's Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service.

In a statement following the announcement, President Gabriel Boric Font praised the institutional response and the public's orderly evacuation. He noted that the government had been in constant coordination with emergency agencies since the event began.

Boric also admitted that he had faced “a lot of pressure” to lower the alert status prematurely but chose to follow the recommendations of experts, stating, “it is better to err on the side of caution in these cases than to later regret the death, destruction of loved ones, or irreparable damage.”

“In Chile, we have learned from our history and we have institutions that work,” he added, noting that the executive branch had been “in constant coordination with emergency agencies, monitoring and defining courses of action since 9 p.m. on Tuesday” and thanked “all those who evacuated in a calm and orderly manner, following the instructions of the authorities, facilitating the work of the teams and taking care of those around them in the midst of this preventive context.”

“It was a very difficult coordination task, but the citizens and institutions responded impeccably. Imagine how difficult it is to move hospitals, prisons, schools, families. So, I really want to praise the civic culture of the citizens and institutions for how they responded to this,” he also pointed out.