Chilean Earthquake: Tracking the Tourism Impact

PHOTO: Valparaiso, and the rich tourist trade it enjoys, were fortunately unaffected by the Chilean earthquake late Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of www.thinkstock.com)

Chilean authorities lifted tsunami warnings along the country’s 2,670 mile-long coastline Wednesday following a magnitude-8.2 earthquake, which struck the country’s northern coast late Tuesday. Six people were killed in the earthquake, said authorities cited in local reports.

The cities of Antofagasta and San Pedro de Atacama, from where travelers embark on Atacama Desert excursions, experienced only “a minor tremor” according to officials at Adsmundo, a Chile-based tour operator. “Flights to and from Iquique and Arica are temporarily suspended, waiting for reactivation during the day,” said a spokesperson who added, “The airports of Calama, Antofagasta and the rest of the country are operating as normal.”

The earthquake has not impacted tourist regions in the country including Easter Island; the Central Region including Valparaiso, Vina del Mar and Santiago; and the southern Lake District and Patagonia, the Adsmundo spokesperson said, “allowing us to operate normally.”

Chilean president Michelle Bachelet declared a state of emergency in the region and deployed police and soldiers to prevent looting and re-capture about 300 inmates who escaped from a women's prison in Iquique. Bachelet said Chile’s interior minister is monitoring the tsunami threat and coordinating emergency response operations.

Authorities evacuated thousands of people evacuated from low-lying areas late Tuesday as seawater flooded streets in Iquique and swept away fishing boats. No major damage was reported. The earthquake began at 8:46 p.m. Tuesday also created landslides resulting in blocked roads and loss of power for thousands in the country’s north.