Authorities ordered the evacuation of 152 families from Villa El Mirador in the municipality of Arauco, in the Biobío region, on Tuesday after a new sinkhole appeared in the area. Arauco lies on the region’s southern coast, about two hours by road from Concepción.
According to BioBioChile, the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) declared a Red Alert for the entire municipality over the risk of mass movement, meaning landslides that could affect homes.
The new subsidence adds to an earlier, larger sinkhole that had already left a crack more than 400 meters long in the neighborhood, according to Cooperativa. This has raised concerns that the forecast heavy rainfall could cause a collapse.
Arauco Provincial Presidential Delegate Pedro Marileo told Cooperativa that the second sinkhole formed because of the weather front already affecting the province. The precautionary evacuation covers all of Plataforma 100 and part of Plataforma 200 in the housing development.
Marileo said the measure seeks to prevent harm in the event of any collapse caused by the rain. Authorities opened a shelter for evacuated families and announced that they would increase the police presence in the area to prevent thefts from empty homes.
Senapred Biobío warned that the community faces high exposure and vulnerability because the mass movement process remains active and could worsen with rainfall. According to CNN Chile, the assessment was based on information from the Chilean Meteorological Directorate and the National Geology and Mining Service (Sernageomin).
The service announced the alert declaration for Arauco on X. According to its statement, the measure allows all available resources to be mobilized to bring the situation under control.
The sources do not specify the shelter’s location or how many people had moved there so far. The Red Alert has been in effect since Tuesday, October 21, and will remain in place as long as conditions warrant, according to Senapred.
