Santiago/Washington - An earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale struck northern Chile Wednesday, prompting panic and power cuts in the region. There were no immediate reports of casualties, but Chilean authorities were still awaiting data from remote areas.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) in Denver, Colorado, said the epicenter of the quake that hit at 1540 GMT was located 40 kilometers southeast of Tocopilla near the western coast, and more than 1,000 kilometres from the capital Santiago. The quake was also felt to the north in Bolivia's capital La Paz.
Chilean media reported of power cuts, communications failures and collapsed walls due to the quake, which lasted 40 seconds and occurred about 60 kilometres below ground.
There were scenes of panic and some people went up nearby mountains for fear of a tsunami, although Chilean authorities noted that they were not expecting such a phenomenon. The USGS cancelled an initial tsunami warning issued for the west coast of the United States, Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Chilean government spokesman Ricardo Lagos Weber said no injuries were reported immediately, with only slight damage to some buildings and power cuts in Antofagasta, a city of some 300,000 people.
The USGS warned that although there were no initial reports of damage or injuries, the earthquake may have caused substantial damage or casualties due to its location and size.
