Chile Reports Mid-Sized Earthquake in Arica, Tarapaca

Northern Chile suffered a medium- sized earthquake in the regions of Arica and Tarapaca that caused some power failures and evacuations along coastal areas, the government reported.

The University of Chile’s seismology service reported the magnitude at 6.4 and the U.S. Geological Survey said it was 6.2. The quake hit at about 6 a.m. local time 1,084 miles north of Santiago at a depth of 61.1 miles, the USGS said on its website.

The quake doesn’t pose a tsunami threat and residents of Arica returned home after an evacuation, the government’s emergency service known as Onemi said in a statement on its website. While the temblor caused some power outages, other basic services and infrastructure remain intact, Onemi said.

Anglo American Plc (AAL) and Xstrata Plc (XTA)’s Collahuasi copper mine in northern Chile is operating normally, the mine’s communications department said in an e-mailed response to questions. State-owned copper company Codelco didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail and telephone call from Bloomberg News seeking comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Randall Woods in Santiago at rwoods13@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Harry Maurer at hmaurer@bloomberg.net