The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.2 magnitude jolt struck at 9:32 a.m. local time about 67 miles east of the port of Arica and 1,060 miles north of the Chilean capital of Santiago.
Seismologists said the quake’s depth of 63 miles beneath the surface prevented significant damage.
But the shaking was terrifying enough to send people rushing out of buildings in communities near the epicenter.
The quake struck just a few days after the country marked the one-year anniversary of the devastating 8.8 magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami that killed 500 people and left $30 billion in damage.