A powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of northern Chile, causing damage and prompting some people to evacuate as a precaution, officials say. An aftershock, which measured 6.3, followed within half an hour.
The first earthquake happened at 12:09 a.m. local time on Tuesday and was centered about 40 kilometers northwest of Carrizal Bajo, a village in the northern Atacama region, or 113 km southwest of Copiapó. It was followed by the aftershock at 12:30 a.m.
Chile’s seismological agency said the initial earthquake measured 7.0 and struck about 31 kilometers below the seafloor, making it a shallow earthquake. The aftershock measured 6.1. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) put the magnitudes at 6.8 and 6.3, respectively.
The initial earthquake was felt across the region and woke up many people, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. Some damage and minor landslides were reported in areas near the epicenter. A number of people living near the coast were evacuated as a precaution.
“Based on all available data, there is no tsunami threat from this earthquake,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin to member states. “No action is required.”
Chile is on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin which is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. A magnitude 9.5 earthquake struck off the coast of central Chile in May 1960, killing thousands of people. It was the largest earthquake ever recorded.
A MAGNITUDE 6.8 earthquake struck near the coast of Northern Chile on Tuesday, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said, with local media reporting some damage and minor landslides in areas near the epicenter.
Chile's interior ministry said in a statement that mining companies operating in the area had not reported any issues in the 2-1/2 hours since the initial quake. GFZ has reported several aftershocks of magnitudes between 5.5 and 6.2.
Local media said staff working in some mines had been moved to safety zones. Mine facilities and other infrastructure in Chile are built to withstand large quakes.
The National Emergency Office of the interior ministry said there had been some localized power cuts and rubble covering roads around the region, and that a swimming pool on the roof of an apartment block in the city of Copiapo in the Atacama desert had overflowed.
The University of Chile's seismological center said it had detected as many as 15 aftershocks around the port city of Huasco, midway between regional capital La Serena and Copiapo.
Ricardo Toro, director of the National Emergency Office, said aftershocks would likely continue through Tuesday morning.
He said those being evacuated as a precautionary measure from homes close to the coast should maintain social distancing designed to stop the spread of coronavirus and wear face masks.
Images posted on social media showed localized damage, including collapsed and cracked walls, and supermarket aisles strewn with broken bottles and other fallen merchandise
There was no tsunami threat, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
GFZ earlier reported the magnitude at 7, with a quake depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).
Chile is on the Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes.
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Chile's mineral-rich northern desert in June.
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