Peruvian officials have called off a tsunami warning administered after a massive earthquake struck Chile earlier on Saturday, the National Oceanic Administration of Peru said.
The tsunami has already struck Robinson Crusoe Island, the largest in the Chilean Juan Fernandez archipelago, creating extensive damage, according to Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, and is heading towards Easter Island.
Officials have reiterated a warning for the Hawaiian Islands as they are likely to be hit by the tsunami, where evacuation sirens are due to go off at 6 a.m. local time [16:00 GMT].
The tsunami wave (or waves) is expected to have a height of approximately 16 feet and each wave will last from five to fifteen minutes.
Indonesia and the Philippines have also been placed under a tsunami advisory, with the Philippine meteorological agency saying the tsunami may strike the eastern part of the archipelago in about 10 hours.
The 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Latin American country in the early hours of Saturday. The tremor occurred some 89 kilometers (55.3 miles) to the north of Chile's second largest city Concepcion, some 341 kilometers (212 miles) from the capital of Santiago.
According to the latest reports, the death toll from the quake has leapt to 78.
Several aftershocks, including one that measured 6.9 on the Richter scale, followed the initial quake.
The Santiago Airport has been shut down for at least 24 hours as the result of the earthquake. Many parts of Santiago and Concepcion are without power.
Some 50 nations have been placed under a tsunami advisory. Areas of concern are the Hawaiian Islands, French Polynesia, Australia, and Japan. Russia's Far Eastern region was also advised, but local emergency authorities have stated that the region is in no danger.
BUENOS AIRES, February 27 (RIA Novosti)
