Troops deployed to Chile's earthquake-stricken areas

Chilean soldiers have been deployed Friday to help tidy up areas affected by the 8.4 earthquake that shook central and northern Chile on Wednesday.

"There was a rather rapid deployment to face Chile's sixth strongest earthquake. However, due to my tour around the communes, I made a decision - the province of Choapa should not just be named as a disaster area but also be decreed as a state of emergency," said President Michelle Bachelet while she announced the troops' deployment on Thursday.

The earthquake's epicentre was near the city of Illapel, 229 kilometres (142 miles) north of capital Santiago in the Coquimbo region. The quake was felt in neibouring countries including Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay, and left at least 12 confirmed deaths and a dozen injured.

The quake brought on a low intensity tsunami which led to a million people being evacuated as a precautionary measure.

The waves, which were up to four meters high, caused minor damage along Chile's center-north coastline.

According to emergency authorities in the Coquimbo region, 428 people are living in shelters and 642 houses were damaged including 179 completely destroyed.

Around 40,000 homes were without electricity on Thursday night while 9,070 homes did not have access to drinking water.

Chile's 8.4-earthquake is the strongest in the world so far this year and it came just over a year after an 8.2 Richter scale quake shook the northern region of Tarapaca, killing six people.

Five years ago the South American country was also hit by an 8.8 level quake on the Richter scale which affected the center and south of Chile, and over 500 people were killed in the following trunami.

Chile is one of the countries with the most seismic movement on the planet as it's western border forms part of the Ring of Fire, where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. Enditem