Strong aftershocks from a powerful earthquake continued to rattle Chileans on Thursday, as the government scrambled to accommodate the estimated 15,000 people left homeless by the quake that hit northern Chile. Reports from the region said government and army workers were distributing food, water and medicine in the wake of the 7.7 magnitude quake. At least two people were killed when it struck Wednesday, and around 150 are believed injured. Major aftershocks shook the region on Thursday, including one of magnitude 6.2 and another of magnitude 6.8, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Four cabinet ministers were coordinating recovery and aid efforts in the area, and President Michelle Bachelet also flew there Thursday. Chile's largest copper mines are in the quake area, and production was halted until electricity could be restored. Chile is the world's largest copper producer. The quake struck around midday Wednesday 780 miles north of the capital, Santiago, and was followed by several aftershocks, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was so strong it shook Santiago and was felt on the other side of the continent in Sao Paulo, Brazil — 1,400 miles to the east. The quake occurred in one of the most seismically active regions in the world, where the Nazca tectonic plate is shoving itself beneath the South American plate. In 1939, an earthquake killed 28,000 people in Chile. The country was also the site of the strongest earthquake recorded in the 20th century, a magnitude-9.5 quake that struck in 1960.
