WebProNews

An earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale killed at least one man when it began shaking about 69 miles below the surface. The quake force people from their homes in Iquique, as power and telephones lines faltered and landslide broke loose.

The earthquake was 70 miles east-northeast of Iquique in the northern mining region of Chile when it hit at 6:44pm local time this evening. The force of the quake was felt in the capital of Bolivia and in southern Peru as well as the other Chilean cities of Arica and Antofagasta.

Chile's naval oceanographers were quick to say there would be no tsunamis from this earthquake. Tsumanis are cataclysmic tidal waves most recently associate with the destruction caused in Southern Asia after an extraordinarily powerful quake on the floor of the Indian Ocean in December of last year.

ONEMI, Chile's emergency services agency said that firefighters, police and other public safety officials have descended on the region to determine the severity of the situation.

Iqnique, a densely populate mining city received the bulk of the shaking. There's also no word yet on how this will affect, if at all, the mining operations in that region.

John Stith is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.