A massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile this morning crumbling buildings, destroying bridges and causing an unknown number of deaths. The temblor struck near where the largest earthquake on history was recorded in 1960 and ties as the fifth largest since 1900.

The quake has caused tsunami warnings to be issued for most of the nations along the Pacific including Australia, Japan, Russia, Indonesia and the Philippines. In Hawaii, the tsunami arrived in recent hours and it appears the state will escape relatively unscathed.

In the aftermath, buildings in Chile’s capital of Santiago caught fire sending smoke into the sky. The temblor that shook the ground for nearly a full minute also sent a cloud of dust into the air. Click here for a slideshow of some of the first images after the quake.

NASA’s Terra satellite flew over the stricken area today and the agency released ‘before and after’ photos that clearly show the smoke and dust.  For complete coverage of the earthquakes, please visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.

Haze Over Santiago Following 8.8 Earthquake

After Image

Before image

Haze lingered over the metropolitan area of Santiago, Chile, following a magnitude 8.8 earthquake on February 27, 2010. In an image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite at 14:25 UTC, black smoke hung over the northern part of the city, while light-colored haze (perhaps pollution and/or dust) covered the southern part of the city and filled a canyon that cuts eastward into the mountains. The lower image, acquired on February 23, shows the city and surroundings under clear-sky conditions.

NASA images provided by the MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.