NU Online News Service, March 11, 12:18 p.m. EST
Another series of earthquakes struck Chile this morning. A 6.9 magnitude quake shook the central part of the country, including Santiago, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The institute initially announced a quake 7.2 magnitude but later lowered that intensity rating. A total of three quakes hit the country USGS said. The first one was reported at 11:39 a.m. local time, the second quake, with a magnitude of 6.7, rattled Chile sixteen minutes later and the last, a quake of 6.0 magnitude happened at 12:06 p.m.
Bill Stott, a freelance editor living in Santiago, said the latest temblor "was the biggest replica or aftershock that we've felt so far," and that the coastal city of Puerto Montt in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncav? Sound had been placed under a tsunami watch as a result.
Mr. Stott, who was outside at the time of the aftershock did not report seeing any damage as a result of the shock, but described a swaying sensation underfoot akin to being on a skateboard, a "feeling of not being in control."
As soon as the shaking stopped, Mr. Stott said he watched as people got on their cell phones to see how others had fared with the latest shock "but the cell phones weren't working."
Risk Management Solutions in Newark, Calif. said immediate damage reports were scarce.
It placed the location of the quake as in the Libertador O'Higgins region of central Chile.
USGS said it was 90 miles southwest of Santiago and 88 miles south-southwest of Valparaiso.
According to the USGS, the region closest to the epicenter experienced intensity very strong shaking on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale.
Towns that may have been affected by this level of shaking were said to include La Estrella, Litueche, Navidad, Marchihue, Reten Llico, Rapel, Poblacion and Pichilemu. Initial reports are of windows rattling in Santiago, but there have been no reports of damage in the capital city.
The location of the epicenter of the second earthquake is approximately 4.5 miles from the first. According to the USGS ShakeMap, a similar pattern of shaking intensity occurred as in the first earthquake.
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