SANTIAGO: A magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit northern Chile near its border with Argentina late Thursday, according to the US Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damages.
The quake's epicenter was 45 kilometers (28 miles) east-southeast of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, and it had a depth of 117 kilometers, according to the USGS.
President Gabriel Boric wrote on social platform X that according to preliminary information there were “no reports of injuries or serious damages.” The quake did not activate a tsunami alarm.
Boric later said that some rocks had comes loose and rolled onto the highway connecting the cities of Calama to Tocopilla, east of the epicenter, and there power outages in San Pedro de Atacama. He said authorities were still collecting information.
Chile's National Disaster Prevention and Response Service said the earthquake was felt, with different intensities, in several regions of the country including Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, Arica and Parinacota.
Chile is located in the so-called “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific and experiences frequent earthquakes. In 2010, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake and subsequent tsunami claimed 526 lives