8.8 quake strikes Chile, tsunami warnings in effect *

More than 140 people have been killed by a major earthquake that struck before dawn, centered in the Pacific 60 miles offshore from the port city of Concepcion. There is heavy damage reported to the country's infrastructure. Tsunami waves have been measured moving across the Pacific, with arrival in Hawaii expected about 11 a.m. island time. A tsunami warning is in effect across the entire eastern Pacific, though the waves are not expected to be large. A rise in sea level has been measured as far north as Cabo San Lucas in Baja California. In Chile, more than a half dozen aftershocks have exceeded magnitude 6.

Perspective: There have only been four stronger earthquakes recorded on Earth since 1900 — with the biggest a 9.5 in 1960, again in Chile. There has not been a magnitude 8 quake in the United States outside of Alaska since 1811, in New Madrid, Missouri. There has never been an 8 pointer in California — the largest at the Fort Tejon area of the Tehachapi Mountains north of Los Angeles in 1857 was believed to be a 7.9.

* Added noted: It was the 9.5 giant off Chile that generated the tsunami that devastated Hilo (on Hawaii) in 1960, killing 61 people and leading to new precautions about sesmic sea waves.