Chilean quake tsunami threatens Pacific nations

Chile Earthquake 2010, A devastating earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and plunging trucks into the fractured earth. A tsunami set off by the magnitude-8.8 quake threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe.

Chile Earthquake Chileans near the epicenter were tossed about as if shaken by a giant. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Chile in 50 years and one of the strongest ever measured anywhere. President-elect Sebastian Pinera said more than 120 people died, but that number was rising quickly.

The quake shook buildings in Argentina’s capital of Buenos Aires, and was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil — 2,900 kilometres to the east.

In Talca, just 105 kilometres from the epicentre, furniture toppled as the earth shook for more than a minute in something akin to major airplane turbulence. The historic centre of town largely collapsed, but most of the buildings of adobe mud and straw were businesses that were not inhabited during the 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. EST) quake.

Neighbours pulled at least five people from the rubble while emergency workers, themselves disoriented, asked for information from reporters.