Chile earthquake: Buildings left 'shaking' as 6.7 magnitude rocks South American country

Two quakes hit today and experts warn even bigger quakes may follow.

Chile has been hit by massive earthquakes which left buildings shaking after the "strong and long" seismic event struck the northern part of the South American country.

The 6.7 magnitude quake saw emergency services on the scene as it struck off the coast of northern Chile on Friday. The German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) said and was at a shallow depth of 40 miles.

This means that it will have been felt widely. A first quake, measuring 6.5, hit just after midnight local time and it was followed by a second a short time later at a depth of 10 miles.

The Mirror reports that, after midday, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake then struck near Copiapo. Chile’s National Emergency Office has been closely monitoring the situation and there are expected to be further tremors.

Local authorities are conducting damage assessments, but no major infrastructure damage has been reported so far. Authorities are advising residents to stay alert for any aftershocks that may follow.

Chile could have an earthquake with a magnitude of 8 or more in the coming year due to seismic activity, says an expert. Sergio Barrientos, of the National Seismic Centre in Chile, said that the possibility of a quake registering 8 or more is around 65%.

His estimate takes into account the patterns over the past few years. He told La Tercera that Chile has been registering nearly 7,000 tremors a year which are registering 3 or more. “Chile is always exposed to the possibility of something big happening,” he said.

“There is no methodology that allows us to anticipate all the movements (...) but from what we do know, there is a tremor of a magnitude of 8 or greater every 12 years in Chile.”

And he added over the next year there is “a slightly greater than 65% chance that there will be an earthquake of 8 or greater.” People have been giving their accounts of the strong earthquake in Chile's Atacama region.

“I felt it but it wasn’t a sudden jerk, what surprised me was how long it went on for,” said one person in La Serena, around 369 kilometres from the epicentre. Another person a similar distance away said: “There was a smooth shaking that went on for a while.”

Other people agreed that it was “strong and long” while a person in Iglesia, Argentina, 437 kilometres away, said “the shaking went on for 10 to 20 seconds.”People have been giving their accounts of the strong earthquake in Chile's Atacama region.

“I felt it but it wasn’t a sudden jerk, what surprised me was how long it went on for,” said one person in La Serena, around 369 kilometres from the epicentre. Another person a similar distance away said: “There was a smooth shaking that went on for a while.”

Other people agreed that it was “strong and long” while a person in Iglesia, Argentina, 437 kilometres away, said “the shaking went on for 10 to 20 seconds.”

While the earthquake hit off the coast of Chile, its strengths means that it has also been felt in neighbouring Argentina. And the US Geological Survey (USGS) says the quake might have been felt by over 240,000 people across the countries.

Based on seismic and statistical models, USGS estimates that the risk of fatalities and damage from this earthquake is low. The main factors that contribute to this evaluation are:

• The maximum expected ground shaking from this quake was unlikely to reach dangerous levels over populated areas; it should not have surpassed intensity VI (Strong) on the MMI scale significantly.
• The quake appears to have occurred far from densely populated areas (far as in relation to its magnitude).