Two killed in Argentina earthquake

Argentina, February 28: A 6.0-MAGNITUDE earthquake killed two people in Argentina today just hours after a massive quake struck off Chile leaving hundreds feared dead and setting off a tsunami, a doctor said.

An eight-year-old child and a 70-year-old man were killed when the quake struck in Salta province in Argentina’s mountainous northwest, said Carmen Castillo, a doctor at the local hospital.

Dr Castillo said two other children were injured when masonry fell on them during the quake, which was measured at 6.0 by the Argentine monitoring service INPRES.

INPRES said it was a separate earthquake and not an aftershock from the massive 8.8-magnitude quake that struck Chile some nine hours earlier, killing at least 147 people and sending tsunami waves thousands of kilometres across the Pacific.

—Agencies