(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-17 09:57

SANTIAGO, Chile -- A strong earthquake shook northern Chile early Sunday in the same region where a temblor killed at least two people last month, but authorities reported no new deaths or serious damage.

A man removes his belongings from his home, destroyed by an earthquake in Tocopilla, some 1,600 kilometers north from Santiago, November 15 2007. [Agencies]

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude-6.7 quake at 5:09 am (3:09 am EST) was centered 80 miles north-northeast of the port city of Antofagasta.

Electric power and telephone services were cut in several cities, but "we can say that there are no victims," said Hernan Vargas, director of the government's Emergency Bureau in the Antofagasta region. "In the city of Tocopilla, seven people were attended at a hospital, mainly for panic attacks."

Tocopilla was the most seriously damaged city in the magnitude-7.7 quake that struck the same area on November 14, killing two people.

Vargas said Sunday's tremor was an aftershock of the November quake.

On Saturday afternoon, a magnitude-5.8 quake rattled central Chile, causing alarm in the capital, Santiago, but no injuries or damage.