Chilean Office of Emergency director steps down over earthquake-response criticism

SANTIAGO (BNO NEWS) — Chilean Office of Emergency director Carmen Fernandez, who came under fire after failing to issue a tsunami warning following an 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit off its coast nearly two weeks ago, resigned on Wednesday.

Interior Minister Edmundo Perez Yoma announced her resignation, saying Fernandez resigned following widespread criticism on the agency’s response to the earthquake.

Fernandez defended the decisions made by the agency, which failed to issue a tsunami warning in time, saying there was information that indicated there was no tsunami threat.

“The first information we had was that there was no tsunami,” Fernandez said earlier. “When we asked about a variation in the height of the tide that was being locally reported from Juan Fernandez, we were told that it would not be more than 18 centimetres. And in the end, we were talking about meters.”

The total death toll from the earthquake and its resulting tsunami is still unclear, but is expected to reach up to 1,000 in the end.

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