Major quake strikes northern Chile, killing at least two
(11/14/07 - SANTIAGO, Chile) The quake, which struck at 12:40 p.m., shook the Chilean capital
780 miles to the south of the epicenter, and was felt as far away
as the other side of the continent -- in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1,400
miles to the east.
The U.S. Geological Survey calculated the magnitude at 7.7. It
was followed by several aftershocks, including three larger than
magnitude 5.
Two women were killed in the town of Tocopilla, 25 miles from
the epicenter, when their houses collapsed, authorities said.
Hospital director Juan Urrutia said at least 100 people were
treated there for injuries or panic.
In the port city of Antofagasta, 105 miles south of the
epicenter, police Capt. Javier Carmona said at least 45 people were
injured. The mayor of nearby Maria Elena, Eduardo Ahumada, said 20
others were injured there and most of the town's 1,800 houses were
damaged.
Television images showed cars crushed by the collapse of a hotel
entryway in Antofagasta.
"It was horribly strong. It was very long and there was a lot
of underground noise," said Andrea Riveros, spokeswoman for the
Park Hotel in nearby Calama, site of the Chuquicamata copper mine.
The mine's owner, Codelco, reported power outages but no major
damage.
At the Agua del Desierto Hotel, administrator Paola Barria said
she felt like she was riding on "a floating island." She reported
downed power lines, cracked windows and fallen pieces of houses
near the hotel.
"I was very frightened. It was very strong," she said. "I've
never felt one that strong."
Schools, hospitals and other buildings were evacuated in several
cities. Television showed some patients holding their IV bags as
they were wheeled from the hospital in Copiapo, 500 miles north of
Santiago.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued, then canceled, a
tsunami warning for Chile and Peru. It said the quake generated
only a two-foot wave.
Scientists in Chile and the United States were trying to
determine why such an intense quake apparently did not cause more
damage.
"The ground in the region is very good, very firm, so the
movement's effect on buildings is limited," said Sergio
Barrientos, a seismologist at the University of Chile.
"It comes down to the level of shaking in certain places,"
added Paul Earle at the USGS. "It's not immensely populated in the
areas most affected."
The quake occurred in one of the most seismically active regions
in the world, where the Nazca tectonic plate is shoving itself
beneath the South American plate.
A 1939 quake in Chile killed 28,000 people and in 1960, a
magnitude-9.5 quake -- the strongest recorded in the 20th century --
killed 5,700 people. On June 13, 2005, a magnitude-7.8 quake near
Tarapaca in northern Chile killed 11 people and left thousands
homeless.