UPDATED
NZ Civil Defence as of 11:43pm: “There’s still no threat to New Zealand. New Zealand scientists are continuing to monitor the situation”. 

WeatherWatch.co.nz believes a Tsunami Advisary “SHOULD” be issued for New Zealand – which indicates the quake may have some type of impact (most likely small) on our eastern seaboard. 

WeatherWatch will continue to monitor this quake until the early hours of Sunday morning.

WeatherWatch.co.nz estimates “any effect” from the Chile tsunami will be on our eastern beaches from Northland to Dunedin from about 6am

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck early Saturday (local time) near Concepcion, Chile, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake was 212 miles (341 kilometers) from Santiago.

Tsunami warnings have been issued for Chile and Peru and a watch for Ecuador.   CNN is reporting a wave has reached 2.74 metres and is travelling at 800km/h up the coast.  The quake had 64 times more energy than Haiti’s recent devastating quake.

AP reporting buildings have collapsed and Chile’s president now confirms half a dozen deaths… WeatherWatch.co.nz expects much higher numbers by morning.

Full details below…

New Zealand’s largest recorded distant tsunami was generated in Chile/Peru in 1868 which killed 1 person and damaged numerous villages across the entire eastern seaboard.

NWS STATEMENT:   SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE
BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER AND COULD ALSO BE A THREAT TO MORE DISTANT COASTS. AUTHORITIES SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SEA LEVEL DATA TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT AND SEVERITY OF THE THREAT.

FOR ALL AREAS – WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE
ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz, CNN