Evacuation orders are in effect in coastal areas in four southern regions following a powerful magnitude-7.6 earthquake that hit Quellon, a town on Chile’s Chiloe Island, prompting officials to issue a tsunami alert.

Officials have not yet released casualty figures or damage estimates.

The evacuation order and tsunami alert cover Biobio, La Araucania, Los Lagos and Los Rios regions, national emergency management office regional director Alejandro Verges told TVN.

The telephone network is down in some areas, but there is no information on victims, damage or utility outages, Verges said.

The powerful temblor hit at 11:22 am and its epicenter was located 28 kilometers (17 miles) southwest of Quellon and 1,284 kilometers (nearly 800 miles) from Santiago, the University of Chile’s Seismology Institute said.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said in a report on its Web site that the temblor had a magnitude of 7.7.

Residents headed to higher ground after receiving the tsunami alert on cell phones.

Seismic activity is common in Chile, which has been affected by a number of powerful earthquakes.

The South American country was hit by a magnitude-8.4 earthquake on Sept. 16, 2015, that killed 13 people, forced more than 9,000 others from their homes and caused extensive damage.

The earthquake caused a tsunami, forcing officials to order the evacuation of more than 1 million people living along the coast. EFE