Buildings rattled in Santiago after a magnitude 5.0 earthquake hit Chile’s capital city. However, there were no reports of damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the tremor was centered 123 km northwest of Santiago. The earthquake had a depth of 85 km and struck at 11:35 a.m. local time.
Although the USGS reported the quake at 5.0, Chile’s emergency service Onemi said the quake had a magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter scale.
"There are no preliminary reports of damage to people or effects on services or to infrastructure from this tremor," said Onemi. The Chilean navy did not issue tsunami warnings, and ruled out any danger along the coast.
The South American nation is one of the world's most seismic countries. Chile’s infrastructure is designed to endure regular tremors.
Last year Chile experienced a 8.2 magnitude earthquake, which triggered a tsunami and also resulted in the death of six people. Nearly 3,000 homes were damaged along the northern coast and 900,000 people were evacuated. The following news clip is from that earthquake.
Chile experienced 300 seismic events in a two-week period last year: