Chile Quake Death Toll Hits 13

W460

The strong earthquake and consequent tsunami that hit Chile earlier this week killed 13 people and left six still missing, according to latest government figures out Friday.

Thousands of people along the South American country's ravaged coast are still picking up the pieces of their broken lives after the 8.3-magnitude quake struck Wednesday.

"The figure has risen to 13 dead," Mahmud Aleuy, deputy interior minister, told a news conference in the capital Santiago, where buildings swayed and people rushed out onto the streets seeking safety.

The 13th known victim was a man found by police along a beach in the port of Coquimbo, one of the hardest hit areas.

The offshore earthquake was the sixth strongest in the history of geologically volatile Chile and the most powerful anywhere in the world this year, officials say.

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