El Teniente Mine Evacuated After Mild Earthquake
The National Copper Corporation (Codelco) of Chile evacuated the El Teniente deposit, the world’s largest underground copper mine, on August 31, 2025, following a mild earthquake in the vicinity. This site had recently experienced a tragic accident resulting in six fatalities just one month prior, reports 24brussels.
At 12:41 local time (04:41 GMT), the earthquake registered 2.3 degrees on the Richter scale, prompting immediate safety protocols that halted all mining activities and evacuated workers. The seismic event was reported to have occurred to the west of the site at an altitude of 1,518 meters, in an inactive area of the mine.
Codelco confirmed that no injuries were reported among workers due to this incident. The company is currently assessing the situation before deciding on the next steps to be taken within the mine.
Meanwhile, the National Seismological Center at the University of Chile reported no seismic activity matching Codelco’s recorded incident in the O’Higgins region or near the mine itself.
El Teniente comprises over 4,500 kilometers of tunnels, roughly the distance between Madrid and Moscow. Owned by the Chilean state through Codelco, it is the largest copper producer globally, generating 356,000 metric tons of refined copper in 2024.
On July 31, a collapse at El Teniente, still under investigation, resulted in the deaths of six workers, marking the deadliest incident at the mine in over three decades, following a similar tragedy in 1990 that took the lives of six miners due to a ‘rock explosion.’
Source: EFE
