Strong 7.1 magnitude quake hits Chile, no injuries

January 3, 2011

By Latorre Latorre – 2 hrs 43 mins ago

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – A strong 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit central Chile on

Sunday, driving panicked residents from their homes due to fears of a tsunami

but causing no injuries or damage, officials said.

Last February, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake caused tsunami waves that devastated

coastal towns in the same area of the South American country, killing more than

500 people and damaging infrastructure across much of south-central Chile.

Sunday's quake struck the town of Tirua almost 70 km (44 miles) northwest of

Temuco at 5:21 p.m. local time (2021 GMT), the director of the country's Onemi

emergency office said.

" Up until now we don't have any reports of injuries, there's no damage, just

overloaded telephone lines and some partial power cuts. We're continuing to

monitor the situation, " Onemi chief Vicente Nunez said.

He said the possibility of a tsunami along the Pacific coastline had been ruled

out and urged coastal residents who rushed to higher ground to return to their

homes.

" We've told people to go back to their houses because there's no tsunami alert, "

he said, noting that the larger quake had been followed by a 5.0 magnitude

aftershock.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake as 7.1 magnitude, slightly

stronger than the 6.9 magnitude recorded by the seismology service at the

University of Chile.

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 latest tremor, a spokeswoman said.

State energy company ENAP said operations were also running as usual at the

nation's top Bio oil refinery, which was badly damaged by last year's major

quake.

(Additional reporting by Alonso Soto and Felipe Iturrieta; writing by Helen

Popper)

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