Moderate 5.5 quake rattles Chile—USGS

WASHINGTON—A moderate 5.5-magnitude earthquake rattled northern Chile on Monday, the latest in a series of temblors to rattle the country in recent months, according to the US Geological Survey.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage after the quake, according to officials at Chile’s seismological institute at University of Chile in Santiago.

Officials there monitoring the quake said it struck at 3:40 a.m. (0740 GMT) roughly 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of the capital city of Santiago.

Authorities said the quake did not appear to have generated a tsunami.

Chile’s Maule coastal region in particular has been shaken recently since the massive February 27, 2010, quake, which claimed more than 500 lives and billions of dollars in damage.

Most of the deaths from that 8.8 magnitude quake occurred from tsunamis that slammed into coastal towns and villages.