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Strong earthquake shakes northern Chile 2 hours, 16 minutes ago
A strong earthquake measuring 7.7 rocked arid northern Chile Wednesday sparking panic and triggering a tsunami warning for the region, officials said.
"It is a major quake," said the director of Chile's National Emergency Office, Carmen Fernandez.
There was no immediate information on any casualties from the quake which struck at 12:43 pm (1543 GMT) in the Chile's dry north where fishmeal and mining are key industries.
The epicenter of the quake was said to be some 101 kilometers (63 miles) west north west of Calama, Chile and 1,260 kilometers (783 miles) north of the Chilean capital Santiago. It was felt as far away as Bolivia's capital, La Paz, high in the Andes to the northeast.
Images on CNN from Santiago showed frightened, weeping people running onto the streets, while a massive concrete awning over a building entrance had collapsed, crushing at least two cars underneath.
An airport in Antofagasta, 1,200 kilometres (746 miles) north of Santiago, had to evacuate staff when the cement cracked, Radio Cooperativa de Santiago reported.
Damage was also reported in the northern cities of Calama and Arica which lost electrical power.
The US Geological Survey said the quake measured 7.7 Movement Magnitude.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said the Antofagasta area warning issued earlier had effectively expired with no major or damaging waves arriving within two hours of the quake.
However, "danger to boats and coastal structures can continue for several hours due to rapid currents," it said.
Meanwhile a separate earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale hit the western Argentine city of San Juan on Wednesday, with no injuries immediately reported. There were no initial reports of injuries or damage but panicky residents of San Juan poured into local streets, the National Earthquake Office said. Its epicenter was in western Argentina, the office said.
Earlier this year, a quake measuring 8.0 on the scale hit southern Peru, killing some 540 people and leaving another 200,000 homeless.
The Peruvian region of Ica region was hit the hardest in the August 15 quake, with the Pisco, a city of some 130,000 people, 80 percent destroyed.
Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.
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