Earthquake in chile

The death toll in the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck central Chile on Saturday has risen to at least 214 people, Interior Minister Edmundo Perez Yoma said.
"This is a catastrophe of immense proportions, so it will be very difficult to give precise figures," Perez Yoma told reporters at the headquarters of the Chilean National Emergency Office.
Highways were sliced into pieces, rubble piled across streets and buildings were reduced to little more than heaps of wood after Saturday's pre-dawn earthquake struck about 325km northeast of the capital Santiago.
Nations around the world's largest ocean scrambled to evacuate coastal areas as they braced for walls of water as high as three metres. But there was no news of damage as the tsunami struck New Zealand and Tahiti.
The massive quake plunged much of the Chilean capital Santiago into darkness, snapping power lines and severing communications. The international airport was closed after being damaged.
"The tragedy is enormous. The earthquake is one of the most important in the world's history, with an enormous capacity of destruction," the Chilean ambassador to the US, Jose Goni, told CNN television.
But he offered reassurances, saying: "The situation is under control. I think we can manage this crisis."
It was the second major earthquake to hit the region in seven weeks after up to 300,000 people were killed in Haiti last month and 1.2 million left homeless by a 7.0-magnitude quake.