A strong earthquake measuring 7.7 rocked arid northern Chile sparking panic and triggering a tsunami warning for the region, officials said.
"It is a major quake," said the director of Chile's National Emergency Office, Carmen Fernandez.
Authorities say two people have been killed an at least 20 injured.
The epicentre of the quake was said to be some 101 kilometres west-north-west of Calama and 1,260 km north of the Chilean capital Santiago.
It was felt as far away as Bolivia's capital, La Paz, high in the Andes to the north-east.
Officials said one of the hardest hit areas was Tocopilla, 120 km north of coastal mining city Antofagasta.
"One of the most affected zones could be Tocopilla where some houses in the western part of town, which are made of lighter materials, have been affected and we have some injured people," Deputy Interior Minister Felipe Harboe said on television.
Television images showed cars crushed under the concrete awning of a hotel in Antofagasta, where power and phone services were knocked out by the quake. Frightened residents stood in the streets.
Just two hours later, a second quake of 5.7 magnitude struck.
Images on CNN from Santiago showed frightened, weeping people running onto the streets, while a massive concrete awning over a building entrance had collapsed, crushing at least two cars underneath.
An airport in Antofagasta, 1,200 km north of Santiago, had to evacuate staff when the cement cracked, Radio Cooperativa de Santiago reported.
Damage was also reported in the northern cities of Calama and Arica which lost electrical power.
Tsunami warning
Chilean authorities discounted the chances of a tsunami along its Pacific coast after the quake and earlier tsunami warnings elsewhere in the Pacific were lifted.
But US officials remained cautious, warning the strength of the quake was sufficient to cause possible ocean disturbances as far away as Hawaii.
"Some coastal areas in Hawaii could experience small, non-destructive sea level changes and strong or unusual currents lasting up to several hours," the tsunami monitoring centre said.
The earthquake was felt in Peru and Bolivia, Chile's neighbours to the north, and in Santiago.
In Bolivia's administrative capital La Paz, a key Government building, home to several ministries, was evacuated. But there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to infrastructure.
The quakes hit an area of many large copper mines. Chile is the biggest copper producer in the world, providing more than a third of annual supplies of the red metal.
BHP Billiton said work was paralysed after power was cut off at its Escondida, Spence and Cerro Colorado copper mines.
-AFP/Reuters
_________________________
Hope all family members of foroers in Chile are ok.
