A magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit northern Chile near its border with Argentina late on July 18, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damages.

The quake’s epicenter was 45 kilometers (28 miles) east-southeast of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, and it had a depth of 117 kilometers, according to the USGS.

President Gabriel Boric wrote on social platform X that according to preliminary information there were “no reports of injuries or serious damages.” The quake did not activate a tsunami alarm.

Boric later said that some rocks had comes loose and rolled onto the highway connecting the cities of Calama to Tocopilla, east of the epicenter, and there power outages in San Pedro de Atacama. He said authorities were still collecting information.

Chile’s National Disaster Prevention and Response Service said the earthquake was felt, with different intensities, in several regions of the country including Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, Arica and Parinacota.

Chile is located in the so-called “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific and experiences frequent earthquakes. In 2010, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake and subsequent tsunami claimed 526 lives.

An aerial view shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. File photo
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Japan issued a tsunami advisory Thursday. October 5, 2023, after a strong earthquake struck near its outlying islands in the Pacific Ocean, but lifted it about two hours later. No damage was reported.

The advisory, the second-lowest of a four-stage warning system, asked people on islands in the Izu chain, which stretches south from the Tokyo region, to stay away from the coast and river mouths.

The U.S. Geological Survey said a series of offshore earthquakes hit the area on Thursday morning. The strongest measured magnitude 6.1 and was located at a depth of 10 km, it said.

The quake was not felt on the islands or in the Tokyo region, but the Japan Meteorological Agency warned that a tsunami as high as 1 meter (3.2 feet) could hit the coasts of the islands. A small tsunami measuring about 30 centimeters (1 foot) was observed at Yaene on Hachijo island, the agency said.

No damage was reported and the agency lifted the tsunami advisory about two hours later.

Japan is one of the most earthquake prone places on Earth.

A massive magnitude 9.0 quake in 2011 triggered a tsunami that destroyed swaths of northern Japan and caused three reactors to melt at the Fukushima nuclear plant.