LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Three strong aftershocks rocked Chile Thursday, forcing officials to curtail inauguration ceremonies for the new president.
The aftershocks followed Chile's worst earthquake in nearly 50 years, a magnitude 8.8 temblor on Feb. 27 that ravaged portions of the central and southern sections of the Andean country.
Aftershock hits Chile ahead of inauguration Chile is hit by strong aftershocks and its navy issues a tsunami warning just before the country's new president Sebastian Pinera is sworn in. Video courtesy of Reuters.
The largest of Thursday's aftershocks was a 6.9-magnitude temblor that struck at 11:39 a.m. local time (9:39 a.m. Eastern), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was 95 miles southwest of Santiago, the capital. See related story: Anatomy of an aftershock.
The aftershocks hit just minutes before the swearing-in of Sebastian Piñera in the port city of Valparaiso. Piñera, an economist and billionaire, earlier this year became the first conservative president to be democratically elected in Chile since Augusto Pinochet stepped down in 1990. Piñera succeeds Michelle Bachelet, who in 2006 beat Piñera in Chile's presidential election.
Piñera was eventually sworn in as president at 12:17 p.m. local time Thursday, according to media reports. The aftershocks reportedly prompted the Chilean navy to issue a tsunami alert for its coastal areas and residents were urged to move to higher ground, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Office buildings and schools in areas where the earthquake was felt were evacuated, and an inauguration luncheon for Piñera was cancelled, though he was able to greet his guests, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"Yes, we felt it ... but we're fine," said Salvador Arenas, a senior analyst at LarrainVial in Santiago, following the aftershocks. The securities brokerage and investment bank has about $8 billion in assets under administration.
No injuries or serious damages have been reported, according to media reports.
Chilean stocks were little changed in the wake of the latest aftershocks. Chile's IPSA equity index finished up 2 points at 3,816.32. There, shares of pulp and paper manufacturer Empresas CMPC rose 1.3%, forestry products giant Copec shares rose 0.7% and Lan Airlines /quotes/comstock/13*!lfl/quotes/nls/lfl (LFL 18.31, +0.25, +1.38%) shares fell 0.5%.
The IPSA index has slipped 0.3% since the late February earthquake left more than 800 dead and at least 2 million people displaced. Chile's pulp and paper industry was hard hit as activity related to the sector is concentrated in the northern portion of the country, where the devastating earthquake struck.
Copper prices rose after reports of Thursday's aftershocks in Chile, the world's largest producer of copper. Copper for May closed up 0.4% at $3.38 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange. But the gains were limited after Chilean mining giant Codelco said it found no damages to its Andina and El Teniente operations, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report. Both locations were temporarily shut down after the February quake. Read more about copper prices.
Reuters
Arenas at LarrainVial said the equity market has shown resilience since the massive earthquake, with construction companies among some of the standout gainers.
But over the next few weeks and months, "the reaction of the new president to this crisis is going to be very important to the confidence in the markets," said Arenas, adding that he'll closely watch for what steps the Piñera administration makes toward rebuilding damaged infrastructure and facilities.
Incoming Finance Minister Felipe Larrain reportedly said on Thursday that the Feb. 27 earthquake created $20 billion to $30 billion in damages to infrastructure.
Chile's currency finished Thursday's session at 517.40 pesos per U.S. dollar, stronger than its finish at 518.30 pesos on Wednesday.
Carla Mozee is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in Los Angeles.
Sebastián Piñera 
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck Chile on Thursday, just 21 minutes before the country's new president, Sebastián Piñera, was due to be sworn in. This earthquake comes several days after a heavy 8.8 magnitude earthquake shook the country, the strongest one in almost half a century.

According to the US Geological Survey, the quake's epicentre was 
135 kilometres (85 miles) south of Valparaiso, where the presidential inauguration took place, and 145 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of capital Santiago. Later, it was reported that the epicenter was offshore Pichilemu, a coastal town in the O'Higgins Region.

The Miami Herald reports that the temblor was among seven aftershocks. There were no reports of damage, injuries, or deaths, although some residents rushed outside after the tremors.

According to reports by the Associated Press, the Chilean navy called for a tsunami alert and encouraged residents living along shorelines to move to higher ground; however, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center commented that "a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected."