A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter Scale jolted the Tarapaca area of Chile, near the Bolivian border, at 6.44 a.m, killing at least 8 people and causing important damage in mountain villages nearby, according to officials statements quoted by Associated Press.
Five passengers of an automobile in the area (three adults and two children) were killed after a stone hit their car near the port city
of Iquique, and three other men died in Andean villages nearby.
In the port cities of Iquique, and Arica, near Chile's northern border with Peru, power supply and communications were first interrupted and gradually restored after two hours, according to Reuters.
The earthquake was initially measured a 7.9 preliminary magnitude, with a located epicenter at 19.9 degree south latitude and 69.2 degree wets longitude, about 110 kilometers northeast of the city of Iquique (the capital of Tarapaca) and almost 1,800 kilometers north of Santiago, the Chilean Capital.
Detailes on other victims in isolated communities of mountain villages have not been released yet, due to poor communications.
The powerful earthquake was also felt in some cities in southern Peru and Bolivia, but no victims or major damage were reported. Many Bolivians took to the the streets of the capital La Paz in panic.
This is the second strong eartquake jolting the area this year, after the 8.7 magnitude on the Richter Scale temblor from March 28.
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