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6.4-magnitude earthquake jolts Peru-Chile border

Monday, 23 March 2015 9:53 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 23 March 2015 9:53 AM ]

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake strikes near Peru-Chile border (file photo).

An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter Scale has hit an area in southern Peru near its border with Chile, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

The early Monday quake, which was measured at a depth of 128.1 kilometers, reportedly struck near the commercially active Peruvian city of Tacna with a population of nearly 250,000 people.

The tremor was also detected in neighboring Chile, some 33 kilometers southeast of the small city of Putre and 100 kilometers east of the city of Arica.

This is while Chile’s National Seismological Center was cited by local news outlets as saying that the quake’s magnitude was measured at 6.3 on the Richter scale.

No casualties have yet been reported in either of the Latin American countries.

Meanwhile, Chilean Interior Ministry’s National Office of Emergency further announced that the characteristics of the strong tremor do not meet the conditions that would be essential to generate a tsunami.

Chile is one of the world's most seismic nations and prone to tsunamis. It was struck by several earthquakes in 2014 that left six people dead and displaced nearly one million people due to tsunami warnings.

In 2007, Peru was also struck by an 8.0 magnitude earthquake that left 519 people dead and 1,366 more injured, prompting a tsunami warning for coastal nations of Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica.

MFB/NN/HRB

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