Strong earthquake shakes central Chile

— A strong, magnitude-6.7 earthquake rocked central Chile late Monday, prompting authorities to order a preventative evacuation of a stretch of coastline, causing hundreds of people to flee buildings in panic and shaking up the visiting prime minister of Canada.


The U.S. Geological Survey initially put the quake's magnitude at 6.5 but later raised it to 6.7. Its epicenter was 26 miles (42 kilometers) northeast of Valparaiso, and it had a depth of 23 miles (37 kilometers). It struck just minutes before midnight local time Monday (3:50 Tuesday GMT).

The Chilean navy's hydrographic and oceanographic service discounted the possibility of a tsunami, but authorities maintained an order for people to move to higher ground along a roughly 500-mile (roughly 780 kms) stretch of coastline running from the city of Constitucion to Tongoy, north of the capital.





Visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was awakened by the earthquake, but was not hurt.

"The prime minister and his wife were at the hotel when the earthquake happened," said Andrew MacDougall, Harper's director of communications. "All members of the Canadian delegation, including the prime minister, and his wife, Laureen, are just fine."

Still, the event shook up delegation travelling with Harper at the end of a four-day trip to Colombia and South America.

On his Twitter page, Canadian Parliament member Randy Hoback wrote, "With PM in Chile. Just experienced Earthquake. Everything A ok! Just freaky!"


The Associated Press