The massive quake plunged much of the Chilean capital, Santiago, into darkness as it snapped power lines and severed communications, and AFP journalists spoke of walls and masonry collapsing. People in pyjamas fled onto the streets.

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."

Japan's meteorological agency also warned of a tsunami risk across large areas of the Pacific including as far away as the Antarctic as the Philippines warned low lying coastal areas to prepare for a possible evacuation.

Chilean President Michele Bachelet and her officials rushed to their offices to coordinate disaster relief, state television said, as powerful aftershocks panicked the population of the quake-prone Latin American country.

The president said 10 victims were reported in the area of Bio Bio, five in Maule and one in Araucania.

"With the quake of this magnitude and given its timing, we cannot rule out other casualties," Bachelet said.

The quake struck at 3:34 am local time (0634 GMT) when many Chileans were still in nightclubs partying at the start of the weekend.

It was swiftly followed by a series of aftershocks ranging from 5.6 to 6.9 on the Moment Magnitude Scale.

Santiago lies 325 kilometers (200 miles) northeast of the epicenter of the quake, which hit at a depth of 35 kilometers (21.7 miles).

It struck 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of the Chilean town of Chillan, the US Geological Survey said, and 115 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Concepcion, a city of about a million people.

The US Pacific Tsunami warning center issued a "widespread" tsunami warning for all Pacific nations.

"Sea level readings confirm that a tsunami has been generated which could cause widespread damage," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Authorities should take "appropriate action," it added, but said the warning did not apply to the west coast of the United States.

"There is a possibility that tsunami will widely occur in the Pacific Ocean," an official for the Japanese meteorological agency said. "We are now checking if tsunami may hit Japanese coastal areas."

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."

The Philippines' government warned coastal communities on the eastern side of the archipelago Saturday to prepare for possible evacuation.

"No evacuation order is in effect but communities along the east coast of the country are advised to wait for further information and to prepare for possible evacuation," a government institute said in an advisory.

Australia's east coast was also put on tsunami alert.

US seismologists had initially put the magnitude of the tremor at 8.5 but later adjusted it to 8.8.

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

In May 1960 the country was ravaged what is now known as Valdivia or Great Chilean Earthquake, which was rated 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale.

The resulting tsunami affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, reaching as far as eastern New Zealand and southeast Australia.

The estimated death toll from that disaster ranged from over 2,200 to 5,700.

Japan warns of Pacific-wide tsunami risk after Chile quake
Japanese authorities warned of a tsunami risk across wide areas of the Pacific after a major earthquake struck Chile Saturday, with US geologists saying the risk extended as far as the Antarctic.

Asian nations are highly sensitive to any tsunami risk following the massive Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004 that left over 220,000 people dead.

In the Philippines, which has seen a series of devastating natural disasters over the past year, authorities warned coastal communities in the east of the archipelago to prepare for possible evacuation.

An official for Japan's meteorological agency said: "There is a possibility that tsunami will widely occur in the Pacific Ocean. We are now checking if the tsunami may hit Japanese coastal areas."

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Chile early Saturday local time.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said the quake had generated a tsunami and that parts of Central and South America could be at risk.

The centre's bulletin said a tsunami watch was also in effect for more distant areas, including Antarctica and the Pitcairn islands and French Polynesia in the southern Pacific.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said Chile's quake could generate a destructive tsunami that could reach the western Pacific.

"No evacuation order is in effect but communities along the east coast of the country are advised to wait for further information and to prepare for possible evacuation," the institute said.

"Coastal areas fronting the Pacific Ocean... should keep watch," the institute said.

However, New Zealand's Civil Defence Ministry said the country was not at risk of a tsunami as a result of the Chilean quake, Radio New Zealand reported.

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

"I told ministries concerned to be ready to take measures in case relief assistance is needed," Hatoyama told reporters.

Earlier in the day, Japan's Okinawa island was hit by its biggest seismic jolt in more than half a century when a powerful earthquake struck, triggering minor tsunamis but causing only minor injuries and small amounts of damage.

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