Strong 6.2-magnitude quake rattles Bolivia

LA PAZ—A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake rattled Bolivia on Tuesday, but the epicenter was deep underground and there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The US Geographical Survey said the quake’s epicenter was 331.4 miles (533.3 kilometers) underground and located 37 miles south-southwest of Trinidad, the capital of Bolivia’s northern Beni region.

The USGS initially gave the quake a 6.7 magnitude but later revised its reading downwards.

The quake, which occurred at the beginning of the afternoon in Bolivia, was felt in major cities, including the capital La Paz in the west, Santa Cruz in the east, and Cochabamba in the center of the Andean nation, local media said.

The private San Calixte observatory, the main seismological institute in Bolivia, said there were no reports of damage or casualties from the quake, and local media said the same.

Officials in neighboring Chile said the quake was also felt there, in three northern regions, but again there were no reports of any significant consequences.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also gave the all-clear, saying that no destructive waves had formed off the Chilean and Peruvian coasts.

The strongest earthquake to strike Bolivia in modern times was an 8.2-magnitude temblor in 1994 that claimed five lives, according to the USGS, which monitors quakes worldwide and aggregates historical information.