Chile: Earthquake 7.7 Mag Power Outages

 Update:Authorities reported at least two deaths and more than 100 injuries.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.7 has struck the moderately populated
region of northern Chile.  Reports of injuries are starting to come in. Earthquake was felt up to 700 mile away. Power is out in affected areas.

more soon. miamipress.net

[q
url="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aSba3d9eec8U&refer=latin_america"]Nov.
14 (Bloomberg) -- Chile, the world's biggest copper producer, was
shaken by an earthquake today in its northern desert, the U.S.
Geological Survey said. No injuries have been reported, the Chilean
government said.

The quake had a magnitude of 7.7 and hit in the region of
Antofagasta at 12:40 p.m. local time today. The tremor was recorded at
a depth of 60 kilometers (37 miles), centered 170 kilometers
north-northeast of the port city of Antofagasta, the USGS said on its
Web site.

``It was a very strong quake,'' the government's spokesman, Ricardo
Lagos Weber, said in comments to state-run National Television. ``There
could be aftershocks.''

Panicked residents fled into the streets in northern Chile after the
quake, and buildings swayed in the country's capital, Santiago. In
Antofagasta, the awning of a hotel collapsed and crushed cars
underneath it, National Television showed. Energy and phone service
were cut in some areas, and some homes were damaged, Carmen Fernandez,
director of the National Emergency Office, said on National Television.

There is no chance the quake will trigger a tidal wave, Fernandez said.

Codelco, the world's biggest copper producer, still is checking with
its mines in northern Chile to ascertain whether the quake caused
damage, the company's press office in Santiago said.

Illtud Harri, a BHP Billiton Ltd. spokesman in London, said he
wasn't immediately aware of any effect on the company's operations in
Chile, which include the world's largest copper mine, Escondida. BHP
spokesmen in Chile didn't return calls and seeking comment.

A spokesman for Chilean copper mine Dona Ines de Collahuasi, which
is controlled by Xstrata Plc and Anglo American Plc, also didn't return
an e-mail seeking comment.

The South American country is one of the world's most seismically
active nations. An earthquake in Chile in 1960 was the strongest ever
recorded.[/q]

[q
url="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ithKoQw1XY-Qh5i5jRovey1TtVNQD8STIHF00"]SANTIAGO,
Chile (AP) — A major earthquake rocked a large area of northern Chile
on Wednesday, toppling power lines and closing roads. There were no
immediate reports of injuries from the quake, which was felt in the
capital as well as neighboring Peru and Bolivia.

The earthquake, which struck at 10:40 a.m. EST, measured magnitude
7.7 and was centered 780 miles north of Santiago, or 25 miles
east-southeast of Tocopilla, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The USGS said it occurred about 37.3 miles beneath the surface.

Presidential spokesman Ricardo Lagos Weber said it was centered in
the Andean village of Quillahua, near Calama, site of the large
Chuquicamata copper mine.

Initial reports "indicate that there have been no injuries, but some damage has occurred, apparently not serious," he said.

Andrea Riveros, a spokeswoman for the Park Hotel in Calama, about 60
miles east-southeast of the epicenter, said the quake knocked out power
to the hotel.

"It was horribly strong. It was very long and there was a lot of underground noise," Riveros said.

She said the hotel was not damaged.

"I was very frightened. It was very strong," added Paola Barrie,
administrator at the Agua del Desierto Hotel, three miles from Calama.
"I've never felt one that strong."

She said the hotel felt "like a floating island" during the quake,
which downed power lines and cracked windows on nearby houses.

A reporter for Radio Cooperativa who had just landed in Antofagasta,
about 105 miles south of the epicenter, told the station she saw cracks
in the airport tarmac.[/q]

[q
url="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311703,00.html"]SANTIAGO,
Chile — A major earthquake struck northern Chile on Wednesday.

There were no immediate reports from the region, but it was felt
strongly in the capital, 1,260 kilometers (780 miles) to the south.

The U.S. Geological Survey calculated the quake's magnitude at 7.7.
It struck at 10:40 EST (1540 GMT) and was centered about 170 kilometers
(105 miles) north of Antofagasta.

[/q]

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 1
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
557 AM HST WED NOV 14 2007

TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - TSUNAMI ADVISORY

A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE
AT 0557 AM HST.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 0541 AM HST 14 NOV 2007
COORDINATES - 22.2 SOUTH 69.9 WEST
LOCATION - NORTHERN CHILE
MAGNITUDE - 7.7 MOMENT

EVALUATION

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER HAS ISSUED A NON-EXPANDING
REGIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING FOR A PART OF THE PACIFIC NEAR THE
EARTHQUAKE. BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO DESTRUCTIVE
TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

HOWEVER... SOME COASTAL AREAS IN HAWAII COULD EXPERIENCE SMALL
NON-DESTRUCTIVE SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND STRONG OR UNUSUAL CURRENTS
LASTING UP TO SEVERAL HOURS. THE ESTIMATED TIME SUCH EFFECTS
MIGHT BEGIN IS

0736 PM HST WED 14 NOV 2007

MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.