Earthquake shakes Chilean capital
Children take up their positions next to their school desks inside a school during a simulated disaster by a fictitious earthquake of 9.0 on the Richter scale and an ensuing tsunami, in Valparaiso on the Pacific coast, about 121 km (75 miles) northwest of Santiago, May 28, 2012. The largest earthquake ever recorded worldwide occurred just 600 km (372 miles) south of here in 1960, with a strength recorded by the USGS of 9.5 on the Richter scale and a tsunami that caused death and destruction in Japan, the Philippines and the U.S. REUTERS/Eliseo Fernandez (CHILE - Tags: SOCIETY)
Image by: Eliseo Fernandez / REUTERS
Image by: Eliseo Fernandez / REUTERS
An earthquake has shaken central Chile, rattling buildings in the capital of Santiago, but country's emergency office says there are no reports of injury or damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey says Thursday's magnitude-5.5 quake took place at 2:22 p.m. (1:22 p.m. EST; 1722 GMT) and was centered 11 miles (18 kilometers) from the city of Los Andes.
As the quake hit, people in the capital fled into the streets, but there were no reports of damage.
Chile's Emergency Office ruled out a tsunami and said electricity services and telephones are functioning normally after some phone lines were temporarily down.
A magnitude-8.8 quake and tsunami in central Chile in February 2010 killed more than 500 people.
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