SANTIAGO, Chile - A devastating magnitude 8-8 earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and spawning a tsunami that threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe.

Chileans near the epicenter were tossed about as if shaken by a giant. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Chile in 50 years and one of the strongest ever measured anywhere. President-elect Sebastian Pinera said more than 120 people died, but the death toll was rising quickly.

Local radio reported up to 150 could have been killed or hurt in a collapsed 14-story building in the hard-hit Concepcion, where firemen were working to put out fires throughout the city. One fire was in the science department in the local university.

Buildings were damaged in the capital Santiago, more than 200 miles away from the epicenter.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck 56 miles northeast of the city of Concepcion at a depth of 22 miles at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. ET). It was felt in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is located more than 800 miles away.

Jessica Sigala, a geophysicist with the USGS told NBC News that the quake released 500 times more energy than the than the one that hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan 12.

Blazing buildings
At least 23 aftershocks were reported, including one registering at 6.9 on the Richter scale.

TV Chile reported that a 15-story building collapsed in Concepcion, where buildings caught fire, bridges collapsed and cracks opened up in the streets. Cars turned upside down lay scattered on one damaged highway bridge.

In the town of Talca, about 65 miles from the epicenter, Associated Press journalist Roberto Candia said it felt as if a giant had grabbed him and shaken him.

The town's historic center, filled with buildings of adobe mud and straw, largely collapsed, though most of those were businesses that were not inhabited when the quake struck. Neighbors pulled at least five people from the rubble while emergency workers, themselves disoriented, asked for information from reporters.

Many roads were destroyed, and electricity, water and phone lines were cut to many areas — meaning there was no word of death or damage from many outlying areas.

In the capital of Santiago, 200 miles northeast of the epicenter, a car dangled from a collapsed overpass, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building's two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars whose alarms rang incessantly.

Jen Ross, a journalist based in Santiago, told NBC's TODAY that she felt "three minutes of shaking".

Experts warned that a tsunami could strike anywhere in the Pacific, and Hawaii could face its largest waves since 1964 starting at 11:19 a.m. (4:19 p.m. EST), according to Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

"Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property," the Warning Center said in a bulletin. "All shores are at risk no matter which direction they face."

Tsunami waves were likely to hit Asian, Australian and New Zealand shores within 24 hours of the earthquake. The U.S. West Coast and Alaska, too, were threatened.

Reuters reported that a tsunami caused by the quake caused "serious damage" to Chile's sparsely populated Juan Fernández Islands, where Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk was marooned in the 18th Century inspiring the novel Robinson Crusoe.

Santiago's international airport was closed for at least 24 hours as the quake destroyed passenger walkways and shook glass out of doors and windows.

In the moments after the quake, people streamed onto the streets of the capital, hugging each other and crying.

Broadcaster TVN reported that several hospitals had suffered structural damage and had been evacuated.

'It's like the end of the world'
"Never in my life have I experienced a quake like this, it's like the end of the world," one man told local television from the city of Temuco, where the quake damaged buildings.

Simon Shalders, who lives in Santiago, told Sky News: "There was a lot of movement. The houses were really shaking, walls were moving backwards and forwards, and doors were swinging open.

"Santiago has got a history of earthquakes and basically there's not a lot of old construction in Santiago because of these earthquakes.

"The new buildings in Santiago are designed to withstand fairly strong quakes and they probably held up pretty well."

There were blackouts in parts of Santiago and communications were still down in the area closest to the epicenter.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35615455/

The world is ending.

Yes, Jesus IS coming back very soon. ;-D

Or the party's starting without him. He's getting pizza roll leftovers by the time he gets here.

That, or some other religion just got to the slaughter before Christianity did.

For goodness sake... this is NOT the first time the world has experienced a number of natural disasters. The article says it itself, this is the biggest earthquake in 50 years... so I bet 50 years ago, when the last one happened, people would have been saying the same thing "oooh, the world is going to end". And clearly it didn't. :P

I believe in the second coming too, but I'm also aware the Bible says we will NOT know when it's going to happen, and honestly I think to assume that a few earthquakes (which have ALWAYS happened, for centuries) means Jesus is about to return is ridiculous.

I admire your willpower, RedFrag, yo. How do you have the nerve to argue with born-again fundamentalists all the time?

i agree with u, red. i believe in the 2nd coming as well. i do not believe "jesus is coming" anytime soon. not in 2012, 2020 or 20-whatever.

The world's biggest earthquakes on record:

1. Chile 2010 - 9.5
2. Alaska 1964 - 9.2
3. Indonesia 2004 - 9.0
4. Arica, Peru 1868 - 9.0
5. Ecaudor 1906 - 8.8
6. Lisbon, Portugal 1755 - 8.7
7. Chile 1730 - 8.7
8. Assam, Tibet 1950 - 8.6
9. Sanriku, Japan 1896 - 8.5
10. Chile-Argentina border 1922 - 8.5
11. Valdiva, Chile 1837 - 8.5
12. Lima, Peru 1687 - 8.5

Clearly, earthquakes are a sign the world is about to end. :P

Earthquakes are also fairly common in Chile

This. :P

Unless all these high magnitude earthquakes happened within a very, very short period, I'd say we've got nothing to worry about, and it's simply business as usual.

Why does it say Chile's was a 9.5? I thought it was an 8.8? That makes me kind of iffy on your source information lol.

I think Chile's one was initially reported as being higher than it actually was.

And anyway, the actual figure is irrelevant to my point. My point is that if big earthquakes were to be taken as a sign that the second coming is imminent then it would have happened a long time ago! Big earthquakes happen every few years. They are not a new phenomenon.

I don't think one big earth quake is freaking people out, it's the fact that there was two big earth quakes so close to each other. I'm not really freaked out about it, stuff like this happens and I was just trying to figure out why your information said it was a 9.5 Also I think the figure is relevant, because that figure is obviously wrong, and you didn't state where you got your information and you could have pulled those figures from anywhere. I'm not saying you did, but that's why I asked.

My family is in hawaii on vaction - sister in law, brother in law and their daugher we are all verry worried we can't get ahold of em I feel awful for my mother in law she's panicing so much we are tryin 2 stay strong for her but I'm getting worried it doesn't help when my grandma is on the ocean where its pouring there and has a tsunami warning there too (washington) but I heard it shouldn't be bad but still

One of my best friends just moved to Hawaii, and is living on the Kaneohe base, which is essentially on the beach. I'm scared to death for her, she's also a Blooper, *Lizzy*. I'm crossing my fingers that everyone there will be okay.

Oh Heavens! I'm saying a prayer specifically for her and her family!

((hugs)) to *Lizzy*

She called me this morning to let me know what was going on, so I wouldn't hear it from the tv or her family. I'm on edge now, I'm scared for her. Thank you for praying for them.

stay optimistic! honestly, being in a military environment is a great situation for emergencies like this.

True, very true. I'm actually IMing with her at the moment, and she seems fine.

yeah we have a tsunami warning over here(cali) too.. i doubt anything will happen over here tho, just some high waves. but i'm definetly worried about hawaii!

I live on the Big Island -Hilo Side...it's pretty hectic. The water is receding right now and its all white wash, we're expecting some big waves, but we're not sure if this is the worst or beginning right now.

I'll keep people posted. if you have an iphone you can download the natvie FM app and it has live coverage.

the lovely island of okinawa japan had a nice 7.0-7.3 quake early yesterday morning as well. and we are also in a tsunami warning due to the powerful quake in chile.

I remember reading once about the tsunami on Boxing Day (don't ask me where it was, I don't really pay attention to the news), and nearly all the indigenous people, who lived in sort of tribes, survived. They recognised the warnings (passed down through the generations I'd have thought), such as animals retreating to higher ground, and they did the same. I always though this was way cool. So pay attention to your animals, people on the coasts!

Oh yeah; Boxing Day is December 26th for the non-Brits.

Was that the one in Thailand a few years ago? =/ My memory is useless! lol.