MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Minor seism” felt in Ushuaia and Rio Grande

A slight seism, with a II to III Mercalli intensity was felt Monday night in two of Tierra del Fuego's main cities, the capital Ushuaia and Rio Grande.

The head of the local Seismology Department Mario Araujo confirmed that Monday night, approximately at 21:00 hour "there was a slight seismic movement in Ushuaia with a II to III Mercalli magnitude".

In spite of the alarm which it caused, hundreds of phone calls to local police and fire stations plus the Civil Defence Office, Mr. Araujo described the seism as a "minor event". Tierra del Fuego Civil Defence office later informed there were no victims and no damages had been reported.

Although the main impact of the seism was located in Ushuaia, the city of Rio Grande also reported the phenomenon.

"It sounded as if a door had been slammed, the floor trembled for a few seconds and some of the house's artifacts kept swaying", said one of the desperate calls to a local Rio Grande newspaper.

In Ushuaia it "was like a train speeding under the building but lasted for a few seconds", said an apartment building resident.

The last recorded seism in Tierra del Fuego dates back to April 2003 and it took place close to the rural village of Tolhuin.

At the time seven minutes later there was a slight replica.

Monday was a stormy day in Ushuaia with abundant rain fall and particularly lightning and thunder which according to local officials is "quite unusual in Tierra del Fuego".