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TOCOPILLA, CHILE - Powerful aftershocks rattled northern Chile overnight, startling emergency workers a day after a large earthquake killed two people and injured more than 100 in the mineral-rich region.
The 6.2 magnitude and 6.8 magnitude aftershocks near the Pacific coast mining city of Antofagasta scared residents but did not cause any deaths, injuries or damages, officials said.
They struck as President Michelle Bachelet toured the nearby town of Tocopilla, where the 7.7 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday collapsed homes and large buildings, killing two people and injuring 115 others.
Victor Espejo, a 46-year-old bread delivery man in Tocopilla said his wife and two grandchildren ran out of the house when the earthquake hit, just in time to watch the kitchen, dining room and other walls collapse.
He spent the night under cold desert skies, guarding his home against looters. Electricity, water and telephones were cut to the town and most residents spent the night outdoors.
"I haven't eaten anything since yesterday. I'm here looking after my house. I need help and there is none," Espejo told Reuters, standing outside the partly destroyed house.
Elsewhere in Tocopilla, people were caught under crumpled roofs and balconies, and two floors of a hospital collapsed.
"That's what we're here for," Bachelet told residents as she toured rubble-strewn streets with residents showing her their destroyed or damaged homes.
"People here are pretty afraid. There have been so many aftershocks that start with a big noise, a humming noise, and then the ground starts moving and people start to run away," Paula Saez, an aid worker with World Vision International, said from Tocopilla.
The government said at least 15,000 people were left homeless by Wednesday's quake, which halted production at Chile's huge copper mines by cutting out power.
Copper prices jumped by more than 6 per cent after the quake but gave up those gains on Thursday as the region's mining operations returned to normal.
The earthquake was felt in neighbouring Peru and Bolivia, as well as the Chilean capital of Santiago.
- REUTERS
