智利大地震已有78人死亡
The quake, which registered at magnitude 8.8 on the Richter scale, caused major structural damage to buildings in Concepcíon, which has a population of one million.
The shock wave also triggered a potentially deadly tsunami which has already hit land at the southern Juan Fernandez Islands, about 400 miles off the coast of Chile, where it was reported to have caused "serious damage".
The first images broadcast from Concepcíon, located some 70 miles southwest of the epicentre of the earthquake, showed a building consumed by a massive blaze.
Streets were shown full of rubble and broken glass and patients were pictured being evacuated from the local hospital as emergency crisis centres were set up in the streets.
Others were pictured wandering dazed amongst the debris, wrapped in blankets, and covered in dirt.
Entire buildings in the historical centre of Concepcíon had collapsed, cars flattened and bridges stretching across the Biobio river which dissects the city, brought down.
Dramatic images broadcast on local television channels showed craters and fissures had opened up in the earth swallowing cars and parts of buildings.
Rescue teams were frantically trying to reach people reportedly trapped in buildings in Concepcion. Local media reported isolated incidents of looting from pharmacies and commercial centres in the city.
Several high-rise residential buildings in the city were pictured with the facades destroyed leaving interior rooms open to the elements.
Michelle Bachelet, the Chilean President, confirmed 78 people had been killed.
She declared a "state of catastrophe" and said: “With the quake of this magnitude, we cannot rule out other casualties.
"People should remain calm. We're doing everything we can with all the forces we have."
In capital Santiago, masonry crashed into the streets from buildings and the city was plunged into darkness by power failures.
Thousands of people fled their homes when the earthquake struck at 3.34am local time, gathering in the streets with many still clothed in pyjamas. Images showed a road bridge that had collapsed trapping cars beneath it.
The major quake lasted one minute and was swiftly followed by a series of aftershocks ranging from 5.6 to 6.9 on the magnitude scale.
One man told local a television news channel in the city of Temuco: "Never in my life have I experienced a quake like this, it's like the end of the world."
The earthquake struck 60 miles north-west of the Chilean town of Chillan, a spokesman for the US Geological Survey said.
Vina del Mar, one of Chile’s most fashionable beach resorts was said to be badly hit in the quake and ensuing aftershocks.
Several revelers reportedly died after they were struck by falling rubble as they left a nightclub on the seafront in the early hours of Saturday.
The coastal city, 45 miles north-west of Santiago, was packed with weekenders visiting the resort for the final days of the summer holiday.
Authorities said they had still to make contact with many outlying areas. Communication had been made difficult after telephone lines were downed across the country, they said.
Chilean officials said the worst affected town appeared to be Parral, close to the epicentre.
Santiago, 200 miles from the epicentre, suffered severe damage, with buildings and bridges destroyed and power-black city’s international airport remained closed after sustaining damage.
Chilean television said there had been a fire involving chemicals in the town of Colina, north of Santiago, but that it was now under control.
Teams of firefighters and police marched through the streets of Santiago urging calm and issuing instructions through megaphones.
One Spanish visitor who was asleep in his room on the 17th floor of the Crown Palace hotel in Santiago told Spanish radio Cadena SER how he was woken by the earthquake.
“It was a pretty intense shaking,” said Victor Garcia de la Concha.
“The bedside lamp, which was quite a weight fell from the table and shattered. The drawers in the dresser in front of the bed were rattled open.”
He reported that the building had not been damaged but guests were evacuated from their rooms and told to gather in the hotel lobby.
Initial reports indicate that the quake could be felt across Chile and also sent tremors to several provinces in central Argentina including parts of the capital, Buenos Aires, 1,000 miles away from the epicentre.
In 1960, Chile was hit by the world's biggest earthquake since records dating back to 1900.
In that disaster, a 9.5 magnitude quake devastated the south-central city of Valdivia, killing 1,655 people and sending a tsunami which battered Easter Island and continued as far as Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines.
Today's magnitude 8.8 quake is classified as a "great" earthquake that can cause "tremendous damage," according to the US Geological Survey.
The earthquake that devastated Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince on January 12 was rated at magnitude 7.0, while the one that struck Indonesia on Boxing Day 2004 measured magnitude 9.2.
智利當地時間27日凌晨發生里氏8.8級地震，截至目前已有78人死亡。由於大地震導致首都聖地亞哥部分地區和震區的電力及通信中斷，給救援工作帶來了巨大的困難。
據美國地質勘探局報告，地震發生在當地時間27日凌晨3時34分，震中位於距離智利首都聖地亞哥西南320公里的馬烏萊附近海域，震源深度63公里。同時，震中距離智利第二大城市、擁有50萬人口的康塞普西翁市僅有89公里。
據當地媒體報道，大地震發生在深夜，首都聖地亞哥被強震驚醒的人們紛紛跑出家門，由於地震後已經至少發生了13次震級在5.2－6.9級的強烈餘震，驚恐的人們不敢回家，導致街道上擠滿了人。目前，強震造成的死亡人數已經上升到78人。
強震導致包括首都聖地亞哥部分地區和震區停電，通信中斷。大部分通往康塞普西翁市和其所在的比奧比奧省的公路、橋樑交通因地震中斷，給正在進行的救援工作造成了巨大的困難。而由於首都斷電，所有路口的交通燈無法起到作用，使首都交通陷入了混亂。智利民航部門宣佈，首都聖地亞哥國際機場的一些設施受到了損害，部分控制塔倒塌，因此機場已經關閉，所有航班均已取消，一些正飛往聖地亞哥的航班迫降在阿根廷首都布宜諾斯艾利斯。另外，聖地亞哥一家化工廠在震後還發生了火災。
智利總統巴切萊特正在趕赴災區，此前她宣佈智利已進入“災難狀態”，並派遣工作組前往震區恢復通信和電力。在地震發生後召集的緊急會議上，巴切萊特表示，“毫無疑問，遇到這種級別的地震，死亡人數將更多”，智利政府正在對地震造成的損害進行評估。她同時呼籲民衆保持冷靜，不要在馬路上亂走，以免受到傷害。
強烈地震還波及了鄰國阿根廷，首都布宜諾斯艾利斯有明顯震感。該國西部門多薩省等部分地區供電中斷，部分居民感到恐慌，跑出家門，目前還沒有阿根廷方面關於人員傷亡和財產損失的報告。
地震之後，各國地震專家都警告注意地震引發的海嘯。正如專家預見，強震造成的海嘯已經襲擊了智利位於南太平洋距智利本土600公里處的胡安·費爾南德斯羣島，那裏有一個居住着600多居民的村莊，海嘯造成了當地巨大的財產損失。位於夏威夷的太平洋海嘯預警中心也已將海嘯預警範圍擴大至整個中美洲以及太平洋的53個國家和諸多地區。
智利東倚安第斯山脈，西臨太平洋海溝，根據現代板塊學說的觀點，智利是太平洋板塊與南美洲板塊相互碰撞的俯衝地帶，處在環太平洋火山活動帶上。這種特殊的地質結構，使智利處於極不穩定的地表之上。自古以來，這裏火山不斷噴發，地震連連發生，海嘯頻頻出現，災難時常降臨。美國地質勘探局資料顯示，1960年智利曾發生過里氏9.5級地震，是1900年以來有記錄的最強烈地震，當時的地震也伴發了強烈海嘯，造成1600多人喪生，200萬人無家可歸，這是世界上影響範圍最大、也是最嚴重的一次海嘯災難。在這次大海嘯的災難中，除智利首當其衝是受害國之外，還涉及到相當廣泛的地區。太平洋東西兩岸，如美國夏威夷羣島、日本、俄羅斯、中國、菲律賓等許多國家與地區，都受到了不同程度的影響，有的國家與地區的損失也相當慘重。因此，27日的地震發生後，菲律賓、新西蘭、日本和澳大利亞也都發布了海嘯預警，海嘯究竟會引發一場什麼樣的災難目前還尚不可知，不過，如果相關國家作好防災準備，相信會將這場災難造成的損失降到最低。
