Major Earthquake Strikes Chile
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SANTIAGO — A major earthquake rocked a large area of northern Chile today, and it was felt in the capital of Santiago. There were no immediate reports of damage or injury from the region.
The quake, which struck at 10:40 a.m., measured magnitude 7.7 and was centered 780 miles north of Santiago, or 25 miles east-southeast of Tocopilla, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The USGS said it occurred 38 miles beneath the surface.
“It was horribly strong. It was very long and there was a lot of underground noise,” a spokeswoman for the Park Hotel in Calama, about 60 miles east-southeast of the epicenter, Andrea Riveros, said.
She said the quake knocked out power to the hotel, but caused no damage.
The head of the government’s Emergency Bureau, Carmen Fernandez, said the quake was felt across nearly 1,300 miles, from Chile’s northern border with Peru to the capital.
