Earthquake measuring 8.8 hits Chile - triggers Tsunami warning for 53 countries

A massive earthquake has hit the coast of Chile, killing dozens of people, flattening buildings and triggering a tsunami.

The 8.8-magnitude quake, the country’s largest in 25 years, shook the capital Santiago for a minute and half at 3:34am (6:34am GMT) today.

A tsunami warning has been extended across 53 countries, including most of Central and South America and as far as Australia, Hawaii and Antarctica.

The wave has already caused serious damage to the sparsely populated Juan Fernandez islands, off the Santiago coast, and is now travelling across the ocean at several hundred km per hour.

The death toll in Chile has reached 78 and is still rising according to President Michelle Bachelet, who has declared a “state of catastrophe” in the country.

Calling for calm from an emergency response centre, the outgoing president said: “We have had a huge earthquake, with some aftershocks.

“Despite this, the system is functioning. People should remain calm. We’re doing everything we can with all the forces we have. Any information we will share immediately.”

The quake hit near the town of Maule, 200 miles southwest 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.

In Santiago buildings collapsed and phone lines and electricity were brought down, but the full extent of the damage is still being determined.

Santiago airport has been shut down and will remain closed for at least the next 24 hours after the passenger terminal suffered major damage.

Chilean television is showing images of destroyed buildings and damaged cars, with rubble-strewn streets.

Dozens of people were seen roaming through the streets, some wheeling suitcases behind them and others gathering around open fires to keep warm.

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.”

About 65,000 British tourists visit Chile each year, according to the country’s tourist authority.

The Foreign Office has updated its travel information for people planning to go to Chile, saying: “The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is in contact with our embassy in Santiago in order to establish the facts on the ground.

“Communications are sporadic. We will update this advice over the next few hours.”

In the coastal city of Vina del Mar, the earthquake struck just as people were leaving a disco, Julio Alvarez told a local radio station. “It was very bad, people were screaming, some people were running, others appeared paralyzed. I was one of them.”

Several big aftershocks later hit the south-central region, including ones measuring 6.9, 6.2 and 5.6.

The earthquake was caused by the floor of the Pacific being pushed below South American land mass.

This sudden jerking of the sea-floor displaced water and triggered a tsunami, which is now crossing the ocean at a speed of a jet plane.

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.

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 Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Center also warned of a “potential tsunami threat to New South Wales state, Queensland state, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island".

Any potential wave would not hit Australia until Sunday morning local time, it added.

All Pacific islands including Hawaii and the Easter Islands have also received warnings.

On the Easter Islands people are now seeking higher ground before the wave strikes.

Earthquakes are relatively common in Chile, which is part of the pacific “ring-of-fire” tectonic-plate boundary, and many buildings are built to withstand tremors.

However Dr David Rothery, of the department of earth and environmental sciences at the Open University, described a magnitude 8 quake as a “rare event” with only one a year on average.

The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same region on May 22, 1960. The magnitude-9.5 quake 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.