Powerful earthquake rocks Chile, no tsunami warning

[News_Editor]

Powerful earthquake rocks Chile, no tsunami warning

2011-02-12 03:27:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

SANTIAGO (BNO NEWS) -- A powerful earthquake rocked central Chile on late Friday afternoon, seismologists and witnesses said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake at 5.05 p.m. local time (2005 GMT) was centered approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Concepcion, the capital of Concepcion Province. It struck about 18.4 kilometers (11.4 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and local authorities did not issue a tsunami warning after the earthquake. "No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical and tsunami data," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin.

It was not immediately known if there was any damage as a result of the earthquake, which was widely felt and as far as the capital of Santiago.

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