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A 7.1 Magnitude Earthquake shook Southern Chile Sunday January 2, 2011. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). There were no reports of deaths or damage, and Vicente Nunez, head of the National Emergency Office, said no tsunami alert was issued.


A magnitude-7.1 earthquake shook southern Chile on Sunday, prompting tens of thousands to flee the coast for higher ground amid fears it could generate a tsunami like the one that ravaged the area last year.

There were no reports of deaths or damage, and Vicente Nunez, head of the National Emergency Office, said no tsunami alert was issued.

"There has been no harm to people, no harm to property," Nunez said. "We will continue monitoring."

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii also said a destructive Pacific Ocean-wide tsunami was not expected.

President Sebastian Pinera urged calm in an address to the nation.

"There was an exercise of self-evacuation, which is exactly what we have asked people to do," Pinera said. "Fortunately we do not have to lament accidents or losses of life."

Some cell-phone communications and electrical power were knocked out in the Araucania region where the quake was centered, 370 miles (595 kilometers) south-southwest of the capital, Santiago.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter was about 45 miles (70 kilometers) away from the provincial capital of Temuco, which has a population of about 250,000.