Magnitude 6.4 earthquake causes damage in northern Chile

He also stated that he summoned the Disaster Risk Management Committee “to consolidate information and evaluate damage.”

Local press images displayed small landslides in various parts of the city of Copiapó, 800 kilometers north of Santiago.

“As a result of this earthquake, 23,000 clients had the supply (electricity) interrupted in the Atacama region”, and small landslides were recorded, said Miguel Ortiz, deputy director of emergency management of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service.

The state company Codelco, the world’s largest producer of copper, said none of its operations in the area “recorded any damage to people or facilities.”

Chile is one of the countries with the largest seismic activity in the world. Three tectonic plates converge in their territory: Nazca, South American and Antarctica.

In 1960, the city of Valdivia (south) was devastated by a 9.5 magnitude earthquake, considered the strongest ever recorded, leaving 9,500 dead.