At least 78 people have died and large parts of South America have been put on tsunami alert after one of the biggest earthquakes in modern times struck southern Chile.
Locals take to the streets of Santiago after an earthquake of 8.8 on the Ritcher scale hit Chile
The quake, registered at magnitude 8.8 on the Richter scale, caused buildings and bridges to collapse and led to power-black outs in parts of the Chilean capital, Santiago, 200 miles from the epicentre.
British experts said a tsunami was now radiating from the epicentre towards Hawaii and other settlements on the Pacific Ring of Fire. The tsunami's ferocity is not yet known.
Images broadcast on television in Chile showed debris had broken off buildings in Santiago and crashed into the streets below, as the city was plunged into darkness by power failures.
Thousands of people fled their homes when the earthquake struck at 3.34am local time, gathering in the streets with many still clothed in pyjamas. Images showed a road bridge that had collapsed trapping cars beneath it.
The major quake lasted one minute and was swiftly followed by a series of aftershocks ranging from 5.6 to 6.9 on the magnitude scale.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet confirmed that at least 47 people had lost their lives.
An emergency official later raised the toll to 52. Five of the victims died in the Maule region and one in Araucania, in the south of Chile.
“But with the quake of this magnitude, we cannot rule out other casualties," Bachelet said.
One man told local a television news channel in the city of Temuco: "Never in my life have I experienced a quake like this, it's like the end of the world."
Dr Brian Baptie, the British Geological Survey's Head of Seismology, said: "This is largest earthquake to strike central Chile since a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 2001.
"A 1.3 metre tsunami wave was observed at Valparaiso, 200 kilometres north of the epicentre about 20 minutes after the earthquake.
"Tsunami waves in the deep ocean travel about the same speed as a jet plane and would take about 15 hours to reach Hawaii and about 20 hours to reach the other side of the Pacific."
Dr David Rothery, from the Open University's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said: "This morning's magnitude 8.8 earthquake close to the Chilean coast has caused a tsunami that is now radiating away from the epicentre and travelling at several hundred kilometres per hour across the Pacific ocean.
"The first waves are expected ot Hawaii at 11:19 Hawaii Standard Time but are also travelling along the South America coast and will reach Colombia and Costa Rica after 1300 GMT.
He added: "A magnitude 8 quake is a rare event. On average there is only about one of these per year globally."
The US Pacific Tsunami warning centre issued a tsunami warning for Chile and Peru, and a tsunami watch for its regional neighbors Ecuador, Colombia, Antarctica, all of Central America and French Polynesia.
The US Pacific Tsunami warning center issued a tsunami warning for Chile and Peru, and a tsunami watch for Ecuador, Colombia, Antarctica, all of Central America and French Polynesia.
Japan's meteorological agency warned of a tsunami risk across large areas of the Pacific, as far away as the Antarctic, and in the Philippines officials warned low-lying coastal areas to prepare for a possible evacuation.
The earthquake struck 60 miles north-west of the Chilean town of Chillan, a spokesman for the US Geological Survey said, and 70 miles north-east of Concepcion, a city of about a million people.
Concepcion is likely to be the most severely affected city and there were radio reports of collapsed churches and other damage.
Teams of firefighters and police marched through the streets of Santiago urging calm and issuing instructions through megaphones.
Initial reports indicate that the quake could be felt across Chile and also sent tremors to several provinces in central Argentina including parts of the capital, Buenos Aires, 1,000 miles away from the epicentre.
In 1960, Chile was hit by the world's biggest earthquake since records dating back to 1900.
In that disaster, a 9.5 magnitude quake devastated the south-central city of Valdivia, killing 1,655 people and sending a tsunami which battered Easter Island and continued as far as Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines.
Today's magnitude 8.8 quake is classified as a "great" earthquake that can cause "tremendous damage," according to the US Geological Survey.
The earthquake that devastated Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince on January 12 was rated at magnitude 7.0, while the one that struck Indonesia on Boxing Day 2004 measured magnitude 9.2.
How scary and frightening! This happened at a time when most people were sleeping. I hope the United States and other foreign countries send aid to the people of Chile as soon as possible. They will need it.
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