Powerful quake shakes Argentina, Chile

A powerful quake struck in northwestern Argentina near the border with central Chile just before midnight Monday, shaking people in parts of both countries. While no injuries have been reported, some power outages were reported in the quake-hit area.

The natural disaster struck at 11:46 pm local time (Tuesday 02.46 GMT), with its epicenter in Pocitos in the San Juan Province, about 1,000 kilometers from Buenos Aires near the Chilean border, according to the American Institute of Geophysics.

The quake was followed by a magnitude 5.0 aftershock about a quarter hour later and then at least five more strong aftershocks in the next hour ranging from magnitude 5.3 to 4.8, the USGS said.

"Let us apply all measures that we have learned to prevent accidents, while we are committed to knowing the impact (of the earthquake) to cooperate in everything necessary", he wrote on Twitter. With a depth of only 20 kilometers, the event is considered shallow and, therefore, with greater potential for damage - even though significant problems have not been accounted for. The depth of the strong natural disaster was recorded to be 20 km by PTWC.

Electricity also failed in some areas and goods were shaken from supermarket shelves, reports said. Damage has been reported to some buildings in the Pocito area.