SANTIAGO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - A huge magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck Chile early on Saturday, killing at least 82 people, knocking down homes and hospitals, and triggering a tsunami that rolled menacingly across the Pacific.
TV Chile reported that a 15-storey building collapsed in the hardest-hit city of 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.
Residents huddled in streets full of rubble of masonry and glass from destroyed homes. Many were terrified by powerful aftershocks and desperately trying to call friends and family.
Tsunami warnings were posted around the Pacific, including the U.S. state of Hawaii, Japan and Russia.
