8.8 quake hits Chile, Tsunami waves expected

[mooby]

Huge quake hits Chile, sparks tsunami alert - Americas- msnbc.com

SANTIAGO, Chile - A devastating magnitude 8-8 earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and spawning a tsunami that threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe.

President-elect Sebastian Pinera said more than 120 people died, but the death toll was rising quickly. Buildings were damaged in the capital Santiago, more than 200 miles away from theepicenter.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck 56 miles northeast of the city of Concepcion at a depth of 22 miles at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. ET).

Jessica Sigala, a geophysicist with the USGS told NBC News that the quake released 500 times more energy than the than the one that hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on January 12. The quake was felt in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is located more than 800 miles away.

Holy crap that's horrible. Let's hope the death toll won't go up in droves. And now they are expecting tsunami's all over the Pacific Ocean? That's even worse. I imagine if they are expecting them to reach everywhere from Russia to California than this thing must be packing some serious ass power.