Powerful new aftershocks rattled Chile today in the wake of the massive 8.8-strong earthquake that killed more than 300 people, a US government agency reported.

Yesterday's tremor has triggered about 115 aftershocks ranging from 4.9 to 6.9, the US Geological Survey said, prompting people in the central quake-hit region to camp out overnight to avoid sleeping in badly damaged structures.

The agency reported a powerful new 6.1-magnitude aftershock this morning 35 kilometers (22 miles) underground and 63 kilometers north of the city of Talca.

Chile lies along the Pacific "Rim of Fire" and is regularly rocked by seismic events.

The epicenter of yesterday's quake was just a few hundred kilometers (miles) north of the biggest earthquake on record, a 9.5-magnitude monster in May 1960 that killed between 2,200 and 5,700 people.

Chilean officials said the quake destroyed or damaged 1.5 million houses and buildings, while roads in Concepcion -- the closest large urban area to the epicenter -- were littered with overturned cars and other debris.

Ripples from the massive tremor -- one of the 10 strongest recorded in the past century -- were felt as far away as Japan as the resulting tsunami roared across the vast Pacific Ocean, causing major evacuations