Not good. I hope early warnings will keep most people out of harm's way. Chile earthquake early this morning, Saturday February 27th registered at 8.8 on the Richter scale. It is said that every nation around the Pacific Ocean – roughly a quarter of the globe - is on tsunami watch. The Tsunami is now moving across the ocean at 550 miles per hour, or the speed of a jet plane.
The epicenter of the earthquake was offshore from the Maule Region, approximately 8 km (5.0 miles) west of Curanipe and 115 km north-northeast of Chile's second largest city, Concepción.[16] Other cities exposed to Mercalli intensity scale intensity VIII (Destructive) shaking were Arauco, Lota and Constitución.[1] The earthquake occurred along the boundary between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate. At the location of this earthquake, the plates converge at 80 mm/year.[16] The coastal part of Chile has a history of great megathrust earthquakes originating from this plate boundary, such as the 1960 Valdivia earthquake. More recently, this plate boundary ruptured at the 2007 Antofagasta earthquake. The earthquake is characterized by a thrust-faulting focal mechanism, caused by the subduction of the Nazca plate under the South American plate.[16] Wikipedia
This threatens the Hawaiian Islands according to CNN:When a tsunami wave hits a coastline, its trough can temporarily expose the sea floor, though water quickly floods the area again. Such an event can trigger powerful and unpredictable currents along the shore, and debris picked up by the wave can boost its destructive power.
Some 95% of the world's earthquakes occur in the Pacific Ocean; that's why the devastating earthquake-triggered tsunami that occurred in the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004 took so many people by surprise. The Pacific Rim has long been ringed with early-warning systems intended to detect an imminent tsunami in time to allow people to flee to higher ground. WSJ Huffington Post
The earliest estimated arrival time for a wave that could affect Hawaii is 11:05 a.m. HST(4:05 p.m. ET), according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The center had earlier reported the first wave could arrive at 11:19 a.m. HST. CNN
Timeline from CNN:Hawaii prepares evacuation Reuters
(CNN) -- 2:36 p.m. -- The earliest estimated arrival time for a wave that could affect Hawaii is 11:05 a.m. HST(4:05 p.m. ET), according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The center had earlier reported the first wave could arrive at 11:19 a.m. HST.
2:15 p.m. -- The government of a Chilean province says a large wave killed three people and 10 were missing on the island of Juan Fernandez, 400 miles off the coast of Chile.
2:02 p.m. -- U.S. State Department now says two of its Embassy employees in Santiago are missing, after earlier reporting that all 118 were accounted for.
1 p.m. -- Evacuation sirens sounded in Hawaii at 6 a.m. (11 a.m. ET) alerting residents and visitors of a possible tsunami. The earliest estimated arrival for a wave that could affect Hawaii is 11:19 a.m. (4:19 p.m. ET), according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
12:40 p.m. -- Death toll in Chile rises to 122, according to President-elect Sebastian Pinera.
11:48 a.m. -- Chilean government says the death toll is 82.
11:37 a.m. -- United Nations Secretery-General Ban Ki-moon says, "The United Nations system, through its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is on standby to offer rapid assistance to the Chilean government and people."
11:09 a.m. -- U.S. Embassy in Santiago says all 118 Embassy diplomats and employees are accounted for.
10:44 a.m. -- Santiago's airport was closed for at least the next 24 hours, head of airport operations Eduardo de Canto told Chile's TVN. The terminal suffered severe damage, but the runways were operational, he said. 9:48 a.m.
10:05 a.m. -- World Vision is sending supplies, including tarps, blankets and collapsable water containers into Chile with the help of Bolivia.
9:19 a.m. -- The United States is ready to help Chile and is closely monitoring the ongoing situation, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
9:14 a.m. -- The American Red Cross has staff in shelters run by the local government in Hawaii and is also monitoring the potential for a tsunami, spokesman Jonathan Aiken said.
8:58 a.m. -- U.S. military officials say they are assessing the tsunami threat for Hawaii and whether military assets, such as ships or people, will need to evacuate the area.
8:10 a.m. -- Numerous aftershocks -- with the strongest at magnitude 6.9 -- were felt within hours of the initial quake, the USGS said.
8:10 a.m. -- Numerous tsunami waves have been reported in the Pacific, with one reaching as high as 7.7 feet in the central Chile coastal town of Talcahuano, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
7:39 a.m. -- Buildings had partially collapsed in Concepcion, where rubble was strewn onto the streets, video from TVN showed. At least two fires also broke out, engulfing multistory buildings, TVN reported. The ceiling of a parking lot in the Las Condes neighborhood of Santiago came crashing down, pinning at least 50 cars underneath.
7:39 a.m. -- The capital lost electricity and basic services including water and telephones. People scavenged for supplies in supermarkets and pharmacies, TVN reports.
7:37 a.m. -- Chilean President Michelle Bachelet declares areas of catastrophe similar to a state of emergency, which allows her to cut through red tape to get aid. "I urge people in coastal zones to move to higher ground," she says.
3:44 a.m. -- Tsunami warning extended to the entire Pacific, including Hawaii. A tsunami warning is the highest level of a tsunami alert. The coastal areas from California to British Colombia and the coast of Alaska are under a tsunami advisory, the U.S. Geological Survey said. A tsunami advisory indicates dangerous currents for swimmers, boaters and coastal structures.
3:34 a.m. -- A magnitude 8.8 earthquake strikes Chile while most people are sleeping, at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. ET). The epicenter is off the coast of Chile's Maule region. The quake was felt in several Chilean towns and in parts of Argentina as well.
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