Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Chile earthquake: Powerful 6.8 magnitude tremor hits coast

Videos posted online show overhead lights swaying following quake – originally said to be 7.2 magnitude – that hit off coast

Clark Mindock
New York
Sunday 29 September 2019 18:38 BST
Comments
(USGIS screenshot)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 has struck off Chile’s coast, the US Geological Survey (USGS) says.

The quake was centred 83 miles (134 km) west of Talca.

The quake was shallow at a depth of 6.1 miles, and there were no immediate warnings of tsunamis from the incident.

A video posted on Twitter from a Chilean journalist appears to show an office in the country impacted by the quake, with overhead lights swaying from the tremor. The video did not appear to show much danger in the building.

Another video, apparently taken from inside of an airport, likewise showed overhead lights swaying as would-be passengers looked on. Yet another video simply showed a chandelier swaying.

The quake comes nine years after a much stronger, 8.8 magnitude quake decimated parts of the Chilean coast.

That earthquake, in 2010, hit in a similar location to the Sunday quake, and caused widespread damage after a tsunami was triggered.

The Sunday earthquake was originally reported by the USGS to be a 7.2 quake, but was later downgraded to a 6.8.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in