A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile on Monday (local time), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The quake hit the Atacama desert region, around 31 km from the town of Calama, at a depth of nearly 100 km. There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage. Chile, one of the world’s most seismically active countries, frequently experiences strong earthquakes due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”