Chile Earthquake (2:20AM EST) USGS upgraded to 8.8

Photo by Kevin Collins ( Santiago)
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IF YOU KNOW PEOPLE ON SOUTH AMERICAN PACIFIC COAST PLEASE TEXT THEM TO GET TO HIGH GROUND (Power out-but Twitter/Texting Working) State Dept number for anyone concerned about a friend or loved one in Chile: 1-888-407-4747
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Map of Perdicted Tsunami Estimated times ( Pacific) (thanks to @Unclo on Twitter)

Hawaii Tsunami Issued, as well as Pacific Ring of Fire Area....see below
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First photo 4am ( less than 2hours after the quake)
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4AM UPDATE:::
Quake is the middle of Night, most power is out. It has been atleast 2 hours Conception/Maule, felt as far as Santiago over 200 miles away. There is no power and no reports coming out. It was felt in Beunos Aires. 6 confirmed dead. Cellphones are also out-BUT if you have relatives down there-please do text them. Twitter again is WORKING. Quake was 62 Times Stronger than Haiti Quake, and only 21 Miles (25-35KM first reports say),so this quake is shallow ( which poses greater Quake Damage/Tsunami Risk).

TSUNAMI UPDATES
3:18AM First Tsunami Warnings Issued Due to Reports.
Tsunami Warnings&Update Number 2 Do See ALL Waves -Entire South America Coast Under Alert NOAA Warnings Critical
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M8.8 - Offshore Maule, Chile - 2010 February 27 06:34:14 UTC
-35° 50' 47.04", -72° 43' 8.04"

M6.2 - Offshore Maule, Chile - 2010 February 27 06:52:35 UTC
-34° 44' 6.72", -72° 38' 16.44"

M5.6 - Offshore Bio-Bio, Chile - 2010 February 27 07:33:31 UTC
-38° 0' 24.48", -73° 29' 1.68"
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Recent earthquakes near Chile :: Google Maps

Time Magnitude Location
1 hour ago 5.6 Offshore Bio-Bio, Chile Map
2 hours ago 6.2 Offshore Maule, Chile Map
2 hours ago 8.8 Offshore Maule, Chile Map
earthquake.usgs.gov
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9am Updates Chile QUAKE update:
So far 79 people confirmed dead. Santiago is reporting Damaged Airport-flights on hold for 24 hours, Santiago is 200 miles away from epicenter. Information from Maule or Concepticion -there are NO reports from that zone yet. the Quake was felt far and wide in South America , all the way to Argnentina. By 5AM Tsunami Warnings and Advisories were issued in the Pacific for as far away as Australia to French Polynesian Islands. Even Easter Island was effected and is to be possibly evacuated. In Chile the President without first few hours issued statement and Declared an Emergency, and also stated that a large Wave had hit SoutherChile Coast. ( We are still awaiting news on this). One large connecting bridge has collapsed and there is Road damage and massive power outage, and cellphones are not working. People are encouraged to use Text Messages and Twitter for communication ( CNN).

Aftershocks have been more than 25, original quake lasted for over 3minutes rates at 8.8,aftershocks and followup quakes have been 4.2-6.9.

9AM Update:: Please read and share information below. As Hawaii is facing a Tsunami WARNING and Civil Defense is going to be sounding Alarm at 6am and Using EVACmodeling. Please see LINKS below or follow me on Twitter @watergatesummer

NOAA Hawaii #Tsunami Information and EvacMaps

NOAA has issued Advisories and Warnings for the Pacific, I have the Estimated Times of when a Tsunami could/would reach the Pacific and the West Coast, and it is worth looking at by location to be aware.

Civil Defense will be issuing alarms and EVAC maps-this is their information for Hawaii

NOAA buoy Maps show the actual Tsunami wave monitoring

CNN report of Chile Quake and the Situation first 5hours and the Pacific and Ring of Fire Tsunami Risks.

Excellent thorough Reporting by BBC about the Quake and some video as well.

First CBS reports and updates by 7am.

CBS video and reports

Paul Evans wrote a really good blog post explaining the Chile Earthquake and Tsunami issues, a really helpful posting. 670,000 Live in Conceptcion near the Epicenter. It is estimated that up to 3 million felt the quake.

Link from ReliefWeb (1st Report) regarding USGS/Logistical Data re; Chile Quake, 1.7 MB PDF LINK is here.
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2PM President gave update live on Cable.
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3PM Updates Santiago Footage starting to come in, still none from EpiCenter. Hawaii has started moving/evacing people and really organized dealing with this situation. The Waves should be coming to shore within the next hour ( or2).
147 Confirmed Dead Chile. Please read below and you will see Hawaii has been issued Tsunami warnings, but so has Most of Pacific Rim including most Island Nations and even Russia,French Polynesia New Zealand and Australia and many other Pacific Countries.USGS /NOAA Bouy maps do show activity/motion throughout Pacific.

HAWAII CIVIL DEFENSE WEBSITE HAS GREAT INFORMATION.

GOOGLE has set up a PERSONFINDER ( posted by State Dept on Twitter)

State Dept. has set up a really organized thorough Website for the ChileQuake

NOAA #15 Hawaii Warning

Shoq on Twitter has set up a whole page for Information and resources

IF you have relatives in Tsunami Zone- Pacific encourage they get to high Ground, and if they can go to the Hawaii Websites I posted above that give EvacZones and other emergency info. Tell them to pack meds, food water and blankets, and if they have pets tell them to check the Website for plans for pets. Hotels have special instructions as well. ( Some are supposed to have guests go to Higher floors, others are on Evac List. Encourage they stay calm, Take Radio if they have. Ask that they remain vigilant and monitor surf but also how animals act, especially birds and fish. If they live near shore and can see Coastline ( ie from a window) They might series of Rolling Waves or they might see Ocean evacuate, leave shore. Risk is that Tsunami can travel with force up to a mile inland. American Samoa and Guam ,French Polynesian Islands are all at risk 1-8 Feet waves that can roll at great force. Encourage they can Skype or Text or Twitter messages.
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Sunday Morning Update

BIG PICTURE from Boston Globe