A huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Chile early yesterday, killing at least 147 people, toppling buildings and triggering a tsunami threatening to roar across the Pacific Ocean, officials said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre warned dozens of countries and remote island nations from Hawaii to Japan of possible "widespread damage" from waves generated by the massive quake which may reach three metres.

"Sea level readings confirm that a tsunami has been generated which could cause widespread damage," the Hawaii-based centre said. "Authorities should take appropriate action in response to this threat."

The massive quake plunged much of the Chilean capital, Santiago, into darkness as it snapped power lines and severed communications. The international airport was closed after being damaged.

"It was the worst experience of my life," said 22-year-old Sebastian, standing outside his house in eastern Santiago.

AFP journalists spoke of walls and masonry collapsing while people in pyjamas fled onto the streets.

Television images showed destroyed or heavily damaged buildings and debris-strewn streets, while fires raged in some places.

Residents in the south of the city, which appeared to have borne the brunt of the quake, said roads had crumpled and a bridge had been damaged, as an AFP correspondent said buildings "shook like jelly".

A partial evacuation of Easter Island, home to about 4,000 people and its mysterious statues, has been ordered in the face of possible big waves, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announced.

"High tidal waves could reach Easter Island," Bachelet said of the island which would be one of the first landmass to be hit by the tsunami as it makes its way across the world's largest ocean.

"Because of that, we are evacuating people living in low-lying areas."

She also said two ships with aid had been dispatched to Robinson Crusoe Island, part of the Juan Fernandez Archipelago, which had already been deluged.

The tremor struck at 3.34 a.m. local time (6.34 a.m. GMT) when many Chileans were still in nightclubs partying at the start of the weekend.

Terrifed residents were also jolted by at least 20 aftershocks measuring over 5.0 on the moment magnitude scale, with one topping 6.9.

Santiago lies 325 km northeast of the epicentre of the quake, which hit at a depth of 35 km. The US Geological Survey said it hit some 115 km northeast of Concepcion, a city of about a million people. Concepcion was due to be among the first Chilean cities hit by tsunami waves, but a huge arc of Pacific nations from New Zealand to Japan went on tsunami alert.

Asian nations have been on heightened alert ever since a massive 2004 tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people around the Indian Ocean.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama ordered his government to be prepared to offer support for victims if necessary, Jiji Press reported.

"Swift action should be required," Hatoyama told reporters. "It appears to be fairly sizable. I told ministries concerned to be ready to take measures in case relief assistance is needed."

And in the low-lying Philippines, officials warned residents in coastal areas to be on standby for an evacuation.

Earthquake-prone Chile lies along the Pacific rim of fire and is regularly rocked by quakes, but damage is often limited as they mostly hit in desert regions that are sparsely populated.

In May 1960 between 2,200 to 5,700 people were killed in what is now known as the Valdivia or Great Chilean Earthquake, which was rated 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, and triggered a huge tsunami that reached as far as eastern New Zealand and southeast Australia.

The world's strongest earthquakes

Here is a list of deadly earthquakes that registered at least an 8.5 magnitude, not including the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile early yesterday.

May 22, 1960: A magnitude 9.5 earthquake in southern Chile and ensuing tsunami killed at least 1,716 people.

March 27, 1964: A magnitude 9.2 quake in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and ensuing tsunami killed 128 people.

December 26, 2004: A magnitude 9.0 quake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed 226,000 people in 12 countries, including 165,700 in Indonesia and 35,400 in Sri Lanka.

August 13, 1868: A magnitude 9.0 quake in Arica, Peru (now Chile) generated catastrophic tsunamis; more than 25,000 people were killed in South America.

January 31, 1906: A magnitude 8.8 quake off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia generated a tsunami that killed at least 500 people.

November 1, 1755: A magnitude 8.7 quake and ensuing tsunami in Lisbon, Portugal killed an estimated 60,000 people and destroyed much of Lisbon.

July 8, 1730: A magnitude 8.7 quake in Valparaiso, Chile, killed at least 3,000 people.

August 15, 1950: A magnitude 8.6 earthquake in Assam, Tibet, killed at least 780 people.

June 15, 1896: A magnitude 8.5 quake Sanriku, Japan, caused a tsunami that killed at least 22,000 people.

November 11, 1922: A magnitude 8.5 quake on the Chile-Argentina border killed several hundred people.

November 7, 1837: A magnitude 8.5 magnitude quake in Valdivia, Chile, generated a tsunami that killed at least 58 people in Hawaii.

October 20, 1687: A magnitude 8.5 quake in Lima, Peru, destroyed much of the city. (PA)

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