6.7 magnitude quake shakes northern Chile
A magnitude-6.7 earthquake shook buildings in northern Chile on Wednesday
A strong 6.7-magnitude earthquake jolted northern Chile Wednesday, US monitors said, knocking out electricity and local telecom services but no immediate tsunami warning was issued.
The earthquake occurred at 2015 GMT, at the relatively shallow depth of 47.5 kilometers (29.5 miles) and the epicenter was located 102 kilometers (63 miles) from the mining town of Copiapo, the US Geological Service said in a report.
The quake knocked out phone service and power in cities in the region, local officials said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said in a preliminary report that based on historical data no destructive widespread tsunami threat existed, but noted that an earthquake of such magnitude could cause localized damage.
Copiapo garnered global attention two years ago when 33 workers were trapped deep inside a nearby mine for more than two months before being rescued.
It took emergency services 17 days to drill a small shaft to establish contact, and more than two months of painstaking effort before they opened a passage way wide enough to pull them out, one by one.
