The catastrophic earthquake which hit Chile today was caused by the Pacific ocean floor gradually sliding under the continent of South America.
The 8.8 magnitude quake, which struck at 6:34am GMT about 115km (70 miles) north-east of the city of Concepcion and 325km south-west of the capital, Santiago, has killed scores of people.
A tsunami warning has been raised across 53 countries from South America to Australia and the US state of Hawaii.
Chile lies in an earthquake hotspot surrounding the Pacific known as the "ring of fire".
About 90 per cent of the world's earthquakes take place in the volatile 40,000km arc, which stretches from New Zealand, along the eastern edge of Asia, north across the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and south along the…