Tsunami

A massive earthquake hit Chile at 3am their time this morning. The quake, measured at 8.8 magnitude, was even more powerful than the one that hit Haiti last month.

From ABC News:

“The minute-and-a-half-long quake was less than 100 miles north from the southwest coastal city of Concepcion, the second-largest city in Chile, but caused damage as far away as the capital Santiago nearly 200 miles away.

Hospitals in the area have been evacuated and the airport in Santiago has been shut down as the country braces to cope with at least 13 aftershocks measuring 5.0 magnitude or stronger. Phone lines and power also are out of service.”

Officials have warned that the earthquake could trigger a tsunami throughout the region. As US news is reporting, Hawaii is being evacuated as the first wave of a tsunami is expected arrive their at 11:19am local time.

Obviously this story is developing and we’ll be keeping an eye on it.

At 6:10pm their time today, a 8.2 magnitude earthquake hit the people of Jakarta, Indonesia.

Buildings were toppled and at least 7 people are reported dead so far. “The earthquake also damaged villages, but the full extent of the destruction was not immediately known.” (NYT article.)

A December 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia killed more than 131,000 people and pushed as many as two million more into poverty.

Read more here.