A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.9 strikes off the west coast of Chile, rocking the capital Santiago and briefly causing alarm along the Pacific Coast but sparing the quake-prone nation of any serious damage.

The most stunning thing about Chile's Wednesday night's earthquake is probably the relatively low amount of havoc caused by such a powerful shake.

A powerful 8.3-magnitude earthquake strikes Chile, killing eight people, forcing the evacuation of a million and sparking warnings that tsunami waves could reach Japan.