Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen were rattled awake by a strong earthquake while staying at a hotel in Chile's capital.

Lights swayed and buildings shook as the quake rumbled through Santiago at about 12:50 a.m. local time Monday. The United States Geological Society declared the event a 6.7-magnitude earthquake, centered 112 kilometres from the capital.

"All members of the Canadian delegation, including the prime minister, and his wife, Laureen, are just fine," Andrew MacDougall, Harper's director of communications, confirmed shortly after.

The quake marked a dramatic end to Harper's otherwise incident-free trip to Colombia and South America where free trade was on the agenda.

Having just wrapped up four days of discussion, Harper had little to say when asked about the earthquake while boarding a plane back to Canada early Tuesday.

"Mr. Harper did you feel the earthquake?" a reporter yelled.

The response was a nod and a brief "yes."

CTV National News reporter Richard Madan, who has been travelling with the prime minister, says he felt the ground shake intensely when the quake hit.

"It felt like you were standing on top of a subway, but multiply that by around 200," he told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday.

Madan said he left his hotel room and stepped onto the streets of downtown Santiago, where one of the largest buildings in the city appeared to be swaying.

There have been no deaths or major damage reported. Still, the nation's emergency office and public security ministry ordered the evacuation of certain coastal areas.

Authorities have confirmed that there's no apparent threat of a tsunami.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake's epicentre was 42 kilometres northeast of the port city of Valparaiso. It had a depth of 37 kilometres.

Reports indicate the quake knocked out power and telephone service in several parts of Santiago. Footage from CNN in Chile showed items behind a television anchor shaking up and down as the host attempted to deliver the news.

Rockslides were also reported on a highway outside the capital city.

Earthquakes are not an unusual event in Chile, which saw a 7.1-magnitude quake on March 25 -- only one day after a 5.1 magnitude quake rumbled through.

With files from The Canadian Press