Image capture (source: ustream.tv Chile TV live coverage)

According to Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, at least 42 people were killed during the earthquake. Death toll however is still expected to rise.

The epicenter of the earthquake was just 100 kilometers outside of Concepcion, the second largest city in the country with half million inhabitants, and right off the coast of the Maule region. In Santiago, the capital of Chile, located 320 km from the epicenter, buildings have collapsed. Witnesses say the earthquake lasted three to four minutes. Meanwhile there are already many aftershocks recorded, some with strengths of 6.2 and 6.9 on the Richter scale.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami warning, the highest level of a tsunami alert, for the entire coast of Chile and Peru. A tsunami watch is in effect for Ecuador, Colombia, Antarctica, Panama, Costa Rica, Antarctica, The Philippines and French Polynesia. Other countries, such as Hawaii, have been placed under a tsunami advisory.Basically the whole Pacific base is in a state of tsunami warning. Even the west coast of the United Stated has issues a tsunami advisory, especially in California, Coastal Alaska and Washington State. In Japan, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, a tsunami alert has also been declared.

The earthquake happened at about the same place as the heaviest of the 20th century: the Great Chilean Earthquake or Valdivia-earthquake – the strongest earthquake ever to be recorded. That earthquake, which took place on May 22, 1960 in the province of Valdivia in Chile, had a magnitude of 9.5 on the Richter scale.

By Murielle Ungricht

Additional information:
BBC News Earthquake coverage
Live coverage on ustream.tv from Chile TV
World’s biggest earthquakes since 1900 (CNN.com)