NU Online News Service, July 14, 3:38 p.m. EDT
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake shook the Bio-Bio region of Chile early Wednesday morning but there have been no reports of significant damage, a catastrophe modeler said.
Risk Management Solutions said that according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), approximately 58,000 people were exposed to shaking with intensity deemed "very strong" on the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale.
This level of ground shaking could be expected to cause moderate damage to resistant structures and moderate or heavy damage to vulnerable structures, RMS said in a statement.
The USGS also reported that the town of Canete, with a population of 20,000, was exposed to "strong," shaking on the MMI scale.
RMS noted that Canete is well known for being the town closest to the epicenter of a 1960 9.5 magnitude earthquake, the largest earthquake recorded in history.
RMS said that the epicenter location of the earthquake is approximately 34 miles southeast of Lebu, Bio-Bio; and 350 miles south-southwest of Santiago, the Chilean capital.
A spokesperson for RMS said that the modeling firm will not be issuing an insured loss estimate.
AIR Worldwide, a Boston-based catastrophe modeling firm, said it does not have an insured loss estimate at this time.
According to USGS, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake 21 miles southeast of this one struck Chile on May 10, 1975 with no reported fatalities.
Chile has been hit with numerous earthquakes this year, including the disastrous 8.8 magnitude quake that hit off the coast of the Maule region, the region above Bio-Bio, on Feb. 27, killing 577 people.
This morning's earthquake hit about 150 miles south-southwest of where the Feb. 27 earthquake hit.
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