Chile, located on the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” has a long history of deadly quakes, including a 8.8 magnitude quake in 2010 off the south-central coast, which also triggered a tsunami that devastated coastal towns.
But death and destruction are limited by strict construction codes especially designed to withstand earthquakes.
The area hit by Sunday’s quake was south of Valdivia, Chile, where 1,655 people died in a magnitude 9.5 quake in 1960, ranked by the USGS as the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the world.
The region is home to several industrial salmon farms, but there were no signs of structural damage at farms or processing plants, said Jose Miguel Burgos, director of the National Fish and Aquaculture Service, a government agency.
