Chile encountered a heavy earthquake at 3:34am (0634 GMT of 8.8 magnitude on the Richter scale. It grab the capital Santiago for a minute and half). 78 person reported killed till now & this figure may increase as rescue work found the bodies.
Its center was just 70 miles from Concepcion. It is Chile’s second-largest city, where more than 200,000 people live along the Bio Bio river.
The quake collapsed buildings and bridge connecting the northern and southern sections of the country. Telephone and power lines were badly damaged & it is difficult to make an early assessment of the loss, but serious damage was reported in two southern cities.
There was totally blackout in parts of Santiago & communication is not possible due to ruin of power & phone lines & towers in the area closest to the epicenter. Emergency officials said buildings in the historic quarters of two southern cities had been badly damaged.
President Michelle Bachelet urged people to stay in homes & have patience to avoid road accident.
Michelle Bachelet said, “We have had a huge earthquake. We’re doing everything we can with all the resources we have.”
Mrs. Bachelet told reporters, “Without a doubt, with a quake of this kind, of this size, of this magnitude, we can’t rule out that there are other deaths and probably injuries.”
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.”
Santiago resident Simon Shalders said: “There was a lot of movement. The houses were really shaking, walls were moving backwards and forwards, and doors were swinging open.
“The power is still out here. There’s quite a few choppers flying around in Santiago I suppose checking out the worst-affected areas.”
A spokesman said: “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.”
The pacific tsunami warning issued for Chile and Peru. And a comparatively low tsunami expected for Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Antarctica.
The largest earthquake recorded struck the same region on May 22,1960. its magnitude was 9.5 at richter scale, killed 1,655 people and left two million homeless.