Devastating earthquake hits Chile, triggers tsunami

A devastating earthquake hit Chile early this morning, collapsing buildings, plunging vehicles into the fractured earth and, as of this report is being written, killing more than 120 people. A tsunami triggered by the quake, which reached 8.8 in the Richter scale, threatened almost every nation around the Pacific Ocean.

Many roads were destroyed, and electricity, water and phone lines were cut to many areas — as several cities have no communication, the death toll may rise sharply. Tsunami waves are hitting Hawaiian, Asian and Australasian shores; even the U.S. and Canadian west coasts may be affected by the waves.

Strong aftershocks rattled Chile's coast. One of them reached magnitude 6.9 and no less than 29 of them were magnitude 5 or greater, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.