8.8 Tremblor Rocks Chile

My heart and prayers goes out to all the victims of the catastrophic 8.8 earthquake that hit Chile last night, followed by already more than 60 aftershocks, 50 of them with a magnitude of 5.0 or higher.

• Saturday's epicenter was just a few miles north of the largest earthquake recorded in the world: a magnitude 9.5 quake in May 1960 that killed 1,655 and unleashed a tsunami that crossed the Pacific.

• Saturday's temblor comes about six weeks after an 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated parts of Haiti and killed more than 220,000 people. The Chilean quake, at magnitude 8.8, was 700 to 800 times stronger.

• Coastal Chile has a history of deadly earthquakes, with 13 quakes of magnitude 7.0 or higher since 1973, the USGS said.

• A tsunami warning for Hawaii was lifted Saturday afternoon. Waves of 3 feet were recorded at the city of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, but were lower than expected, and no damage was reported. Meanwhile, tsunami activity was reported on the island of Tasmania, according to officials in Australia.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/27/chile.quake/index.html