Reuters reports that a powerful earthquake disrupted the Chilean coast this past Wednesday, causing destruction and flooding along the coast, including Santiago, Chile's capital.

The quake, whose epicentre was 175 miles north of Santiago, was magnitude 8.3. Tremors were felt as far away as Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A million people were evacuated by the government. Maria Angelica Leiva, who was evicted from her home in the coastal town of Navidad, shared :

"It's been awful. We ran out of the house with our grandchildren and now we are on a hill hoping it will be over soon." She continues, "It is all very dark, and we just hope the sea hasn't reached our house."

Three aftershocks larger than magnitudes 6.1 struck just an hour after the initial tremors. Smaller tremors continued to rock the area throughout the day, according to USGS.

The 8.3 magnitude quake is the largest to hit Chile since 2010.The initial casualty count stands at five.

One of the casualties was a 26-year-old woman who was crushed under a collapsing wall. Another casualty died of heart attack, according to reports.

Flooding badly affected coastal areas. The heaviest hit town, Coquimbo, was hit by waves of up to 15 feet following the earthquake, according to a spokesperson from Chile's navy.

"We're going through a really grave situation with the tsunami. We have residential neighborhoods that have flooded ....the ocean has reached the (Coquimbo) downtown area," Coquimbo Mayor Cristian Galleguillos stated.

Inland cities also suffered. Illapel, approximately 28 miles from the epicenter of the quake, lost electricity and drinking water and many buildings in the city were damaged.

Chile is a big copper producer and many copper mines have been forced to halt operations and evacuate their miners for fear of collapses due to weakened mine structures.

The huge tremors triggered tsunami warnings in some areas of South America, Hawaii, California and French Polynesia.

Chile has been plagued by an increasing number of high-magnitude earthquakes in recent years.

 In 2010 an 8.8 magnitude earthquake triggered an enormous tsunami that killed over 500 people in the southern-central area.

An 8.2 magnitude tremor shook Chile's northern region in 2014.

President Michelle Bachelet will travel to the quake-affected areas. She said in a televised statement:

"Once again we're having to deal with another harsh blow from nature. "

Chile was gearing up to celebrate its national holiday on Friday, but what was to be a joyous occasion has turned into a survivors' nightmare with infrastructure cut off indefinitely.