UPDATE for my Hawaii readers: Hawaii is expected to get hit by the tsunami around 4pm est and they are predicting the first wave to be about 6 meters.
Horrible. I’m trying to remember if there ever was an 8.8 in living memory. This is about 700 times stronger than the Haitian quake:
A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Chile early Saturday, killing at least 78 people, collapsing buildings and setting off a tsunami.
A huge wave reached a populated area in the Robinson Crusoe Islands, 410 miles (660 kilometers) off the Chilean coast, said President Michele Bacelete.
Tsunami warnings were issued over a wide area, including South America, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Russia and many Pacific islands.
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AFP/Getty ImagesA meteorologist monitors the tsunami situation from his computer in Taiwan’s central weather bureau after a 8.8-magnitude quake struck Chile on Feb. 27
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taiwanchile0227“It has been a devastating earthquake,” Interior Minister Edmundo Perez Yoma told reporters.
Ms. Bachelet said the death toll was at 78 and rising, but officials had no information on the number of people injured. She declared a “state of catastrophe” in central Chile.
“We have had a huge earthquake, with some aftershocks,” Ms. Bachelet said from an emergency response center. She urged Chileans not to panic.
“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,” she said.
In the 2 ½ hours following the 90-second quake, the U.S. Geological Survey reported 11 aftershocks, five of them measuring 6.0 or above.
May 22, 1960: A magnitude 9.5 earthquake in southern Chile and ensuing tsunami killed at least 1,716 people.
March 27, 1964: A magnitude 9.2 quake in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and ensuing tsunami killed 128 people.
Dec. 26, 2004: A magnitude 9 quake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 226,000 people in 12 countries, including 165,700 in Indonesia and 35,400 in Sri Lanka.
August 13, 1868: A magnitude 9.0 quake in Arica, Peru (now Chile) generated catastrophic tsunamis; more than 25,000 people were killed in South America.
January 31, 1906: A magnitude 8.8 quake off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia generated a tsunami that killed at least 500 people.
November 1, 1755: A magnitude 8.7 quake and ensuing tsunami in Lisbon, Portugal killed an estimated 60,000 people and destroyed much of Lisbon.
July 8, 1730: A magnitude 8.7 quake in Valparasio, Chile, killed at least 3,000 people.
August 15, 1950: A magnitude 8.6 earthquake in Assam, Tibet, killed at least 780 people.
June 15, 1896: A magnitude 8.5 quake Sanriku, Japan, caused a tsunami that killed at least 22,000 people.
November 11, 1922: A magnitude 8.5 quake on the Chile-Argentina border killed several hundred people.
November 7, 1837: A magnitude 8.5 magnitude quake in Valdivia, Chile generated a tsunami that killed at least 58 people in Hawaii.
October 20, 1687: A magnitude 8.5 quake in Lima, Peru destroyed much of the city.
Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology and WHO’s International Disaster Database
Congrats, beside Atrios, you are the only one of my favorite bloggers to mention the thing. And the comments over at Atrios are well, too much over the pale. Worrying bout golf course, wineries, inconveniences and such.
I’ve called my family in Hawaii. Fortunately, they live up high. My friend’s kids in Hilo have been evacuated.
UPDATE for my Hawaii readers: Hawaii is expected to get hit by the tsunami around 4pm est and they are predicting the first wave to be about 6 meters.
Six meters is 20 feet. Your later note says 6 feet (two meters.)
Let’s hope that the smaller one is correct.
Per the LA Times:
In Hawaii, civil defense sirens sounded at 6 a.m. local time alerted residents to the expected arrival of a tsunami of 3 feet to 6 feet by midday.