MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Moderate Quake Hits Chile's central valley

A medium-intensity earthquake hit Chile's central valley at 1:32 p.m. on Saturday and lasted for 40 seconds.

Chile's major population centers of Santiago, Valparaiso, and Viña del Mar were affected, but there have been no reports of damage.

The earthquake registered a 3 on the Modified Mercalli scale in Santiago, Valparaiso, and Viña del Mar. In nearby Los Andes, Chile, the quake registered a 4 on the Mercalli scale.

The Mercalli scale's lower numbers measure the way a quake was felt by people, and its higher numbers measure structural damage. A three on the Mercalli scale describes an earthquake "felt quite noticeably by persons indoors, especially on the upper floors of buildings. Many do not recognize it as an earthquake. Standing motor cars may rock slightly. The vibration is similar to the passing of a truck."

News of the quake has yet to be picked up by international media, but there is no need for worry.

Santiago Times reporters in Santiago and Valparaiso confirmed feeling a strong trembling, but said that no damage had occurred. "I was sitting listening to music on the fifth floor of my apartment building, and I felt the building start to shake," said an American student in Valparaiso.

"Nothing fell, but the building was really shaking. It was my first earthquake, but I wasn't so scared." By Nathan Crooks, The Santiago Times