A massive earthquake registering 8.8 on the Richter scale has hit Chile, killing at least 60 people and causing a tsunami. 

The authorities put the death toll at 60 but warn it is likely to rise. Buildings, streets and bridges have sustained extensive damage.

Many places are without electricity. The international airport of the capital Santiago has been closed.

President Michelle Bachelet has declared a state of emergency.

There have been a number of aftershocks, several of them strong ones. The epicentre lay close to the coastal city of Concepción, 400 kilometres south of the capital Santiago.

A tsunami has caused devastation on the Juan Fernández islands. The Hawaii Tsunami Warning Centre has widened its tsunami alert to all countries bordering the Pacific. The tsunami is expected to reach as far as Antarctica and Japan.

The quake struck around 3:30am local time, prompting people to stream on to the streets.

In 1960, Chile was hit by the world's biggest earthquake since records began in 1900. The 9.5 magnitude quake devastated the south-central city of Valdivia, killing 1,655 people.

It caused a tsunami which battered Easter Island, 3,700 kilometres off Chile's Pacific seaboard, and continued as far as Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines.