A 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook central and northern Chile

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook the central and northern Chilean area at 8:48 p.m. local time this Wednesday, with no reports of casualties or serious material damage at the moment, as reported by the National Seismological Center of the University of Chile.

The agency indicated that the epicenter was registered at 11 kilometers south-east of Tongoyabout 430 kilometers north of the capital, on the Chilean coast.

Likewise, its hypocenter occurred at a depth of 45 kilometers.

He National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) indicated that the movement was perceived among the Atacama regionsin the north of the country, and Metropolitana, where Santiago, the capital, is located, and described it as a medium intensity earthquake.

As reported by the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Navy (SHOA), the earthquake did not meet the conditions to generate a tsunami on the country's coasts.

Since 1570, there have been around one hundred earthquakes of great power in Chile, of which almost thirty were from magnitude greater than 8.

According to the Department of Emergency and Disaster Risk Management, on average, an earthquake of magnitude above 8 occurs every 10 years.

The last great earthquake that shook Chile was the one known as “27F” which occurred on February 27, 2010, the second strongest earthquake in its history.

With 8.8 magnitudethe telluric movement had as its epicenter the coasts of the region of the Maule and surprised the population during the early morning.

Less than an hour after the earthquake, a tsunami hit the country's coasts. Outside Chile, the tsunami reached Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Ricawithout major effects.

As a result of the earthquake, more than 500 people and there were around fifty people missing.

On the afternoon of May 22, 1960, the strongest earthquake on record occurred, with a magnitude of 9.5, its epicenter was the city of Traiguen, in the province of Malleco. However, he is known as the “Valdivia earthquake” because it was where there was the most damage.

The seismic activity also caused a tsunami with waves up to 10 meters high that devastated a good part of the south of the country.

The official death toll is not precise, it is only known that there were more than 2 thousand victims.