A major earthquake of 7.1 magnitude hit central Chile yesterday, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties, local emergency officials said.
“Up until now we don’t have any information of deaths or major damage. A tsunami alert is ruled out,” said Felipe Plaza, duty officer at Chile’s Onemi emergency office.
Another emergency official in the Araucania region close to the epicentre, some 69km northwest of Temuco, said the quake had hit telephone communications but that all other public services were working as usual.
Chile, the world’s top copper producer, has seen its economy surge on heavy spending to rebuild cities ravaged by last February’s quake and record prices for its main export.
Operations were normal at the Andean division of Chilean copper miner Codelco after the tremor, a spokesman said.