Powerful 8.3 earthquake shakes Chile's capital

[webfact]

Strong quake shakes Chile capital, causing buildings to sway

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A powerful magnitude-8.3 earthquake shook Chile's capital Wednesday night, causing buildings to sway and people to take refuge in the streets. Several strong aftershocks hit within minutes as tsunami alarms sounded in the nearby port of Valparaiso.

There were no immediate reports on any injuries or damage, but communications were disrupted.

Chilean authorities issued a tsunami alert for the country's entire coast, and U.S. officials posted an alert for Hawaii. Chile's emergency office warned that big waves caused by the quake could hit the coast by 11 p.m.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the quake at a preliminary magnitude of 7.9 but quickly revised the reading upward to 8.3. U.S. officials said the quake struck just offshore in the Pacific at 7:54 p.m. (6:54 p.m. EDT, 1154 GMT) and was centered about 141 miles (228 kilometers) north-northwest of Santiago. It said the quake was 4.8 miles (5 kilometers) below the surface.

A magnitude-8.8 quake and ensuing tsunami in central Chile in 2010 killed more than 500 people, destroyed 220,000 homes, and washed away docks, riverfronts and seaside resorts. That quake released so much energy, it actually it shortened the Earth's day by a fraction of a second by changing the planet's rotation.

Chile is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries because just off the coast, the Nazca tectonic plate plunges beneath the South American plate, pushing the towering Andes cordillera to ever-higher altitudes.

The strongest earthquake ever recorded on Earth happened in Chile — a magnitude-9.5 tremor in 1960 that killed more than 5,000 people.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-17

[Mosha]

BBC reports 15' waves have come ashore in Chile, and Tsunami warnings as far north as California and Hawaii, and across the Pacific in NZ

[webfact]

Hawaii under tsunami watch after 8.3-magnitude Chile quake
JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER, Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii is under a tsunami watch after an 8.3-magtidue earthquake off the coast of north Chile.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued the watch, saying a tsunami may have been generated by Wednesday's earthquake.

If there is a tsunami, the center estimates that the first wave would arrive about 3 a.m. 2300 (GMT) Thursday.

The powerful earthquake shook Chile's capital, causing buildings to sway and people to take refuge in the streets. Several strong aftershocks hit within minutes as tsunami alarms sounded in the nearby port of Valparaiso. There were no immediate reports on any injuries or damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the quake at a preliminary magnitude of 7.9, but it quickly revised the reading upward to 8.3.

A watch means that a tsunami is possible, but it doesn't mean it will happen, said Chevy Chevalier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

"A watch is for everybody to be aware of it, that it's a possibility," he said. "A warning means it's happening right now or it's imminent."

A tsunami warning was last issued for Hawaii in 2012, after a powerful earthquake off the coast of Canada. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center lifted its tsunami advisory three hours after downgrading from a warning and less than six hours after the waves first hit the islands. The state was spared from severe surges.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said state officials are standing by, awaiting updates from the warning center.

On the Big Island, officials were bracing to be the first island affected, county spokesman Ilihia Gionson said. Officials were gathered Wednesday in the county's emergency operations center in Hilo, he said.

"It's too early to tell," he said. "This early it's best to just stay informed."


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-17

[zaphod reborn]

Hilo has a long history of being hit by tsunamis and much of what we knew about tsunamis, before the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, was learned from studying the tsunamis that have hit Hilo. Hilo is an unprotected bay on the windward side of the Big Island. Most of the shoreline in Hilo Bay has been left undeveloped, because of the frequent history of tsunami waves. Hope it doesn't hit, or is mild if it does. The last tsunami wave struck in 1960. About a thousand people were killed, most of whom had tried to observe the "big wave."

[waldroj]

Travel times for this event.

[oneday]

8.3 quake with no injuries or damage. That's quite a feat.

[FritsSikkink]

8.3 quake with no injuries or damage. That's quite a feat.

communications are down, so we haven't heard anything yet.

[wabothai]

8.3 quake with no injuries or damage. That's quite a feat.

should be total devastation

[MaxYakov]

Chilean shaking supermarket video showing very serious wine spillage - The Guardian

Edited September 17, 2015 by MaxYakov

[FritsSikkink]

at least 5 dead now

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Powerful-Chile-quake-kills-at-least-five-1-million-30268978.html