A MAGNITUDE 6.2 earthquake shook a northern region of Chile yesterday – an area that has felt several frightening but inconsequential tremors in recent days.

No injuries and only minor damage were reported.

The quake was centered in Putre, about 60 kilometers east of the port of Arica near the border with Peru, and nearly 2,200 kilometers north of the capital, Santiago, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake happened about 9.30 am and had a depth of about 110 kilometers, according to the agency.

Some people ran out of homes and churches into the streets when they felt the shaking, but there were no reports of injuries, Chile’s national emergency agency said.

The agency said later that some adobe homes were damaged in the northern villages of Putre and Belen, and there were rock slides on a road that connects Chile to Bolivia.

Several quakes have rattled northern Chile recently, most of them with a magnitude of 5 or less – however Chilean and foreign scientists have warned that the region is long overdue for a significant quake.

The nation is prone to major earthquakes like the magnitude 8.8 quake that shook central Chile in February of last year, generating a tsunami and killing 524 people.

- AP