8.2 quake of the coast of Chile, tsunami alert issued

[Candlelight]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/9896126/Chile-earthquake-triggers-tsunami

A major earthquake of magnitude 8.2 has struck off the coast of Chile, triggering a tsunami that has hit the northern part of the country and a tsunami warning for all of South and Central America's Pacific coast.
The US Geological Survey said the quake was very shallow, only 10km below the seabed, and struck at 6.46pm local time (12.46pm NZT) 99km northwest of the mining port of Iquique, near the Peruvian border. The Chilean navy said the first tsunami wave had hit the coast within 45 minutes of the quake.
"An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicentre within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Hope everyone is ok.

 

[Miss Chicken]

At least 6 people dead, mass evacuation of about a million people, quite a bit of property damage but, compared to some earthquakes Chile has had in the past, they got off rather lightly this time

 

[kirsten187]

That was exactly my thought too, Miss Chicken. With a magnitude of that size I would have expected it to be worse.

 

[publiusr]

Still small compared to the Lebu shock
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1960_05_22.php