An earthquake shook buildings and woke residents in the Chilean capital Santiago in the early hours of Wednesday, though there were no initial reports of damage or casualties.
The tremor, with a magnitude of around 5.4, struck 36km (22 miles) northeast of the city at 3.15 a.m. (0715 GMT), according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
Chile’s emergency service Onemi said it did not have any reports of damage to services or infrastructure and the Chilean navy said the quake did not generate conditions to cause a tsunami along the coast.
Witnesses in the capital said the tremor was felt very strongly.
Chile, located on one of the “Pacific Ring of Fire” fault lines, has a long history of quakes, including the largest recorded in history, a 9.5-magnitude quake in 1960.
The long, slender country runs along the border of two tectonic plates, with the Nazca Plate beneath the South Pacific Ocean pushing into the South America Plate, a phenomenon that also formed the Andes Mountains.