Chile, Natural Disaster | featured news

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit central Chile on Sunday, injuring three people and prompting emergency officials to order an evacuation along parts of the coast. There were no immediate reports of major damage.

Dozens of flights were cancelled Sunday after an ash cloud from an erupting volcano in Chile drifted thousands of miles over the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

Flights are returning to normal in major Argentine and Uruguayan airports, but ash from a Chilean volcano is now reaching Australia.

The Puyehue volcano in southern Chile erupted Saturday, sending a huge plume of smoke and ash into the sky and prompting officials to evacuate about 600 people living nearby. There were no reports of injuries. Authorities had put the area around the volcano on alert Saturday morning after a flurry of earthquakes, and the eruption began in the afternoon. The National Emergency Office said it recorded an average of 230 tremors an hour.

A strong earthquake has shaken northern Chile.

Scientists worry Nepal could suffer the next earthquake disaster An earthquake disaster in Nepal could be more devastating than the Haiti earthquake or the Chile earthquake.

There are reasons why the huge Chile quake did less damage than the weaker tremblor in Haiti.

A massive quake struck Chile early Saturday, shaking the capital of Santiago, bringing down buildings and setting off a tsunami. At least 78 were killed with the toll rising.