Chile Earthquake: The 8.8 Scale Mayhem In Chile, Tsunami Alerts, Latest Updates, Images, Links, Videos

Chile was rocked by a giant 8.8 scale earthquake today at 3:34am local time (6:34am GMT). The minute and a half long earthquake caused much damage in the country and triggered Tsunami upto 7.7 ft (2.34 meter) high. Many countries have been alerted for possible Tsunami damages and Hawaii is preparing a mass evacuation program to protect people from Tsunami. Here is an image showing how the Chilean earthquake's energy is expected to spread through the ocean:

(Image courtesy West Coast And Alaska Tsunami Warning Center)

The death toll in Chile was reported at 82 and the number is fast rising. The epicenter was 70 miles from Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city. Several big aftershocks (as strong as 6.9, 6.2 and 5.6 scales) later hit the country, especially in the south.

Unbelievable pictures can be seen at the Chile Earthquake Blog:

(Image courtesy Yfrog)

For more information please follow these links:

* Chile Earthquake Blog
* Chile Earthquake Wiki
* Google Chile Earthquake Person Finder App
* Pasific Tsunami Warning Center
* The Lede - The New York Times News Blog
* Latercera.com - for minute by minute update
* Astronaut Soichi took a photo of Conception from outer space and uploaded on Twitter:

He wrote:

Concepcion, Chile. Mega earthquake (M8.3) hit this city this morning. Photo taken a few hours ago. We pray for you.

*ALT1040 updates:

# Santiago Airport closed for structural damage to the control tower.
# Smaller villages in the Maule province with up to 80% of their homes to the ground.
# New death toll: 122
# International flights to Santiago de Chile are being diverted to Mendoza and Buenos Aires in Argentina.
# Santiago's main fiber cable has been snapped.
# Big fire on the outskirts of Santiago.
# The next problem is the potential flooding Chile

Here is a link to the Live streaming of local news from Chile:

Broadcasting Live with Ustream.TV