SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A powerful 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck near Chile's eastern coastal port of Valparaiso early on Tuesday, shaking buildings as far away as the capital Santiago, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries and the country's main copper mines were unaffected.
State emergency office ONEMI said a stretch of coastline was being evacuated as a precaution, but there was no tsunami alert.
The quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey measured at magnitude 6.5, struck 26 miles (42 km) north-northeast of Valparaiso, and 69 miles (112 km) northwest of the capital Santiago at a depth of 16.1 miles (25.9 km), it said.
"We have no reports of any damage or injuries so far," a spokesman for ONEMI told Reuters. Local media said basic services like power and telecommunications continued to operate normally
The USGS initially said the quake was a magnitude 6.6.
State mining giant Codelco, the world's No.1 copper producer, said its operations were not impacted by the quake, as did global miner Anglo American.
Chile (CHILE.84)is prone to earthquakes, and was hammered by a massive tremor in early 2010 which ravaged the south-centre of the country, devastating industries and triggering tsunamis, which killed hundreds of people.
(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer, Simon Gardner, Antonio de la Jara, Moises Avila, Fabian Cambero, Felipe Iturrieta; Editing by David Brunnstrom)