Magnitude-6.2 earthquake hits Chile

Santiago, Mar 27 (IANS/EFE) A magnitude-6.2 earthquake hit northern Chile’s Atacama region, but no casualties or damage was reported.

The temblor struck at 11:52 A.M. (2022 IST) Friday and its epicentre was near Copiapo, a town 804 km north of Santiago, the US Geological Service said.

Seismologists at the University of Chile measured the earthquake at magnitude-5.9 on Richter scale.

It was the second powerful quake which struck northern Chile this month after the magnitude-6.3 temblor of March 4.

Preliminary reports say Friday’s earthquake caused some landslides, while authorities in Copiapo ordered evacuation of schools and other public buildings.

A supervisor at the Onemi emergency management office, Eva Cansino, told state television that Friday’s quake was not an aftershock of the magnitude-8.8 temblor that rocked south-central Chile Feb. 27, leaving more than 400 dead and some 800,000 people injured or displaced.

–IANS/EFE