|
Chile's Largest Quake Since 2004 Cuts Copper Output |
|
|
|
|
Written by News Editor
|
|
Thursday, 15 November 2007 |
Lebanon news, Lebanese radio
station , world news, music, discover Lebanon, visit Beirut, Radio sawt
Beirut
|
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Chile, the world's biggest copper producer, was shaken by its largest earthquake since 2004, knocking out power to a dozen mines and reducing output of the metal. Two people were killed, the government said.
The magnitude 7.7 quake, which hit at 12:40 p.m. local time, was centered 170 kilometers (105 miles) north-northeast of the port city of Antofagasta in northern Chile, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Mines including BHP Billiton Ltd.'s Escondida, the world's largest copper source, and Codelco's top deposit, Chuquicamata, lost power.
``It was a very strong quake,'' the government's spokesman, Ricardo Lagos Weber, said in comments to state-run National Television. ``There could be aftershocks.''
The dead included an elderly woman, said Carmen Fernandez, director of the government's National Emergency Office, on National Television. Both fatalities were caused by falling debris, broadcaster Canal13 said. The quake was the sixth- largest worldwide this year, according to USGS data.
Panicked residents fled into the streets in cities in northern Chile and buildings swayed in the capital Santiago. One person in northern Chile also was seriously injured, Fernandez said. Dozens more may have been hurt, National Television said.
Mines owned by Anglo American Plc, Xstrata Plc, Kinross Gold Corp., Antofagasta Plc and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. reported power outages.
Copper Price Climbs
Copper prices marked their biggest gain since July 2006 in New York after the quake in Chile, which supplies 36 percent of the world's output of the metal.
Copper futures for December delivery surged 18.95 cents, or 6.1 percent, to close at $3.2965 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The South American country is one of the world's most seismically active nations. An earthquake in southern Chile in 1960 was the strongest ever recorded, with a magnitude of 9.5. Chile is prone to earthquakes because its 6,435 kilometers of coastline stretches near the boundaries of tectonic plates making up the earth's crust.
Today's tremor, which was followed by six smaller quakes, was recorded at a depth of 60 kilometers, the USGS said on its Web site. The quake also was felt in neighboring Bolivia and Peru, according to local press reports. It was the country's largest since a 7.9 magnitude tremor in northern Chile in 2004, said Carlos Aranda, a scientist at the University of Chile's earthquake center in Santiago.
Power Cuts
Power was cut in parts of northern Chile, where there is damage to some energy infrastructure, and phone service was temporarily interrupted, the Emergency Office said. Some homes were destroyed, the government said.
In Antofagasta, the awning of a hotel collapsed and crushed cars underneath it, National Television showed. There is no chance the quake will trigger a tidal wave, Fernandez said.
Codelco is mining for ore and stocking material at its Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic mines, where processing plants gradually are resuming production, Codelco said in an e-mail. The temblor knocked out power for two hours, the government- owned company's press office said. Minor rockslides occurred at the two mines, the Emergency Office said.
The two mines produce 53 percent of the copper from Codelco, which in turn produces about 11 percent of global output of the metal.
Port Closed
The port of Mejillones, used to export copper, will be closed until tomorrow morning, Codelco said.
Freeport's operations were restarting at its Candelaria and Ojos del Salado mines, and were still halted at El Abra, spokesman Pete Faur said.
BHP, the world's largest mining company, said the quake cut power to its Escondida, Spence and Cerro Colorado copper mines, halting processing plants. BHP hasn't found damage yet to infrastructure at the mines, where no rockslides were reported, spokesman Mauro Valdes said in Santiago.
Power was cut to the Dona Ines de Collahuasi mine, which is controlled by Xstrata and Anglo American, said James Wyatt- Tilby, an Anglo spokesman in London. Power also was interrupted at Antofagasta Plc's Tesoro mine, a company spokesman said in Santiago.
Electricity supplies were restored to Kinross Gold's La Coipa and Maricunga mines in Chile after an interruption that caused ``minimal'' production losses, spokesman Steve Mitchell said in Toronto.
Southern Copper Corp.'s Cuajone and Toquepala mines in the southern Andes and Ilo smelter on the south coast weren't affected by the quake, spokesman Guillermo Vidalon said in an e-mail. |
News 
