A powerful earthquake struck yesterday off the coast of Chile, rattling a region hit by a massive temblor and tsunami a year ago, officials said.

There were no initial reports of casualties or damage, but media reports said the quake was felt in a wide area of central Chile.

The US Geological Survey and Chile’s national emergency office said the quake occurred in the Pacific some 70 kilometres from the city of Concepcion.

The USGS initially reported a major 7.0 magnitude, and later revised that to 6.8, which can still cause devastation.

The quake struck at 2005 GMT near a region in central Chile that was devastated by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and tsunami on February 27, 2010.

Last year’s disaster led to more than 500 deaths and $30 billion dollars in damage, and led to an inquiry over the lack of a timely tsunami warning.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that “a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected,” from this quake but that earthquakes of this size “sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts” within a 100 kilometres of the epicentre.

“Authorities in the region of the epicentre should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action,” it said.

The USGS said the location of the earthquake was 395 kilometres southwest of Santiago.