Deadly Quake Shakes Chile, Triggers Tsunami

Thousands of Chileans slept outside Wednesday night after an 8.3 magnitude earthquake rocked the northern coast.

The quake killed at least eight people and forced more than one million along the coast to evacuate their homes.

Small tsunami waves followed the quake, flooding several coastal towns.

"The water was already coming but it wasn't a wave--it was like a high tide with force," one man said.

President Michelle Bachelet urged people who evacuated to stay on high ground.

"We are monitoring the situation on the coast in various ways, including through the armed forces. There are planes and helicopters to determine the exact extent of the damage," she said.

Tsunami advisories were also issued for Hawaii and parts of coastal California early Thursday morning.

The quake lasted for three minutes and caused buildings to sway in the capital of Santiago. The tremor was so strong that people on the other side of the continent in Argentina felt it.

Schools are closed in most of Chile today as the government evaluates the damage.

Chile is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. Just off the coast, the Nazca tectonic plate plunges beneath the South American plate, pushing the towering Andes cordillera to higher altitudes.

The world's strongest recorded earthquake happened in Chile. In 1960, a magnitude 9.5 tremor struck and killed 5,000 people.