A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific Ocean off the coast of central Chile early Saturday and US authorities warned it could generate a tsunami.
The epicenter of the tremor, which hit at 3:34 am local time (0634 GMT), was 100 kilometers (60 miles) north northwest of the Chilean town of Chillan, the US Geological Survey said.
It was 105 kilometers (65 miles) west southwest of Chile's city of Talca and 115 kilometers (70 miles) north northeast of Concepcion, it said.
The Chilean capital of Santiago is 325 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of the epicenter.
The quake was at a depth of 35 kilometers (21.7 miles), the survey said in its latest bulletin.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The survey had initially put the magnitude of the tremor at 8.5 but later adjusted it to 8.8. The location of the epicenter was also slightly corrected.
The US Pacific Tsunami warning center issued a tsunami warning for Chile and Peru, and a tsunami watch for Ecuador, Colombia, Antarctica, Panama and Costa Rica.
It said it was not yet known if a tsunami had been caused but "an earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines within hours."
The center warned authorities to take "appropriate action".
The quake magnitude reading is based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale which is used by US seismologists and measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.
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