Chile ? A strong earthquake rocked northern Chile and parts of Bolivia on Thursday, sending residents fleeing out of buildings and temporarily knocking out telephones and electricity, authorities reported.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.

The quake struck at 4:26 p.m. local time in the Andes Mountains along the border between the two countries. The U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo., measured the quake at magnitude 6.9 and said the epicenter was located in the Bolivian province of Potosi, about 780 miles northeast of Santiago, the Chilean capital.

The University of Chile’s Seismological Institute put the quake’s magnitude at 6.8.

The temblor was felt strongly in the Chilean port city of Tocopilla, 960 miles north of Santiago.

“Panic was widespread here and we are still checking, but we have no reports of victims or damage,” said Tocopilla Gov. Jorge Peralta.

The tremor was felt along a 440-mile stretch of Chile’s narrow territory, between Copiapo and Tocopilla, said Hernan Vargas, a regional director of Chile’s Emergency Bureau.