The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Santiago

A powerful earthquake hit mineral-rich northern Chile on Wednesday, killing at least two people, injuring more than 100 and halting output at some of the world's largest copper mines. The magnitude 7.7 quake raised massive dust clouds in Chile's mountainous north and shook buildings in isolated cities up and down the Pacific coast. Dozens of road workers were reported trapped in and around a coastal highway tunnel that collapsed in the hardest-hit area. Government spokesman Ricardo Lagos said rescuers would try to reach them early on Thursday. "They will be evacuated by the Navy via the ocean," he said. "As far as we know there are no injured or dead (among them)." Hundreds of miles away in the capital Santiago, buildings swayed and unnerved even the earthquake-hardened. The area rocked by the earthquake lies between Chile's northern Pacific coast on one side and the barren Atacama desert and towering Andes mountains on the other.