7.5 magnitude earthquake jolts Drake Passage off South America

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Thursday, the waters between South America’s southern tip and Antarctica.

Chile’s Navy Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service issued a tsunami precaution for the Chilean Antarctic territory following an 8.0-magnitude earthquake that struck 258 km (160 miles)northwest of Base Frei on Wednesday evening, it said in a bulletin.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) also initially reported the earthquake at a magnitude of 8 but later revised it, saying that it occurred at a depth of 11 km or 7 miles.

The earthquake struck over 700 km southeast of Argentina’s southern city of Ushuaia, which has a population of about 57,000, according to the USGS.

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