Earthquake rocks southern Chile near Argentina

SANTIAGOL: A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake shook southern Chile on Saturday near the border with Argentina, the US Geological Survey said.

The epicenter of the 38-kilometer deep quake was 45 km northwest of Coihaique, Chile, and 270 km west of Sarmiento, Argentina, the USGS said.

It was located 1320 km south of Chile's capital Santiago.

The reading was based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.

A measurement of five indicates a moderate earthquake, six or higher a strong quake, seven a major quake and eight a great quake.