Massive earthquake hits Chile

An quake of 8.8 magnitude – the country’s largest in 25 years – jolted the capital Santiago and adjoining parts for over a minute at 0634 GMT.

The quake hit near the town of Maule, 200 miles southwest of capital
city of Santiago, at a depth of 22 miles underground.

The epicentre was just 70 miles from Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city, where
more than 200,000 people live along the Bio Bio river.

A tsunami warning has been extended across the Pacific rim, including
most of Central and South America and as far as Australia and
Antarctica.

Chile president Michelle Bachelet has declared a “state of
catastrophe” in the country and said the casulty figures could rise.
Several big aftershocks were later felt in the south-central region,
including ones measuring 6.9, 6.2 and 5.6 on the Richter scale.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for Chile and Peru, and a less-urgent tsunami watch for Ecuador, Colombia, Panama,
Costa Rica and Antarctica.

“Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicentre and could also be a threat to more distant coasts,” a spokesperson said.

The largest earthquake ever recorded had struck in the same region on
May 22, 1960 when an quake of 9.5 magnitude had killed 1,655 people and left two million homeless.

The tsunami that it caused killed people in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines and caused damage to the US West Coast.