Two dead from heart attacks as strong quake jolts Chile
Santiago, Jan 20 : A strong 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit north-central Chile on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, with police reporting the deaths of two people from heart attacks.
The quake struck at a depth of 53 kilometers with an epicenter some 15 km southwest of Coquimbo, USGS said.
An elderly man and an elderly woman from Coquimbo suffered cardiac arrests as a result of the quake, police said, while there were several landslides reported on national highways.
The earthquake, which hit at 0132 GMT (Sunday), was felt in Valparaiso, O'Higgins and the region of the capital Santiago, as well as in Atacama and Coquimbo up north.
Thousands of homes lost power, which showed how intense the quake was, according to Ricardo Toro of the National Emergency Office.
Residents in Coquimbo and neighboring Serena, a coastal region about 500 kilometers from Santiago, evacuated to high ground even though authorities quickly ruled out a tsunami, according to local media.
The Coquimbo region experienced a tsunami in September 2015 after an 8.3 magnitude earthquake struck, killing a dozen people. Chile is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries.
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake in Chile was the strongest ever recorded, at 9.5, on the magnitude scale, according to the USGS.
Chile lies on the Ring of Fire -- an arc of fault lines that circles the Pacific Basin and is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
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Flight services between Kolkata, Dubai resume partially
Kolkata (PTI): Flight services between Kolkata and Dubai resumed partially on Thursday, after a four-day suspension due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, officials said.
A flydubai aircraft from Dubai landed at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here at 2:40 am with 130 passengers on board, marking the first arrival from the Middle East after services were halted for over 113 hours, they said.
The Boeing 737 Max aircraft was scheduled to arrive at 12:25 am, Kolkata airport officials said.
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The same aircraft departed for Dubai at 3:59 am with 55 passengers, they said.
The last flight to depart for the Middle East from Kolkata before the suspension was an Emirates aircraft to Dubai on February 28, the officials said.
International services between Kolkata and cities such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi were disrupted, after airlines temporarily suspended operations amid escalating tensions and airspace restrictions in parts of the Middle East, due to the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran.
There is no clear indication about when all the Middle East routes will fully reopen, they said.
