An earthquake measuring 8.8 points on the Richter scale struck central Chile in the early hours of Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The tremor occurred some 89 kilometers (55.3 miles) to the north of Chile's second largest city Concepcion, some 341 kilometers (212 miles) from the capital of Santiago, at about 03.34 a.m. local time (06.34 GMT). Earlier reports set the quake magnitude at 8.3; however, the U.S. Geological Survey has recently upgraded it.

At least six people were killed in the quake, and several buildings were destroyed in Santiago, Sky News reported.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center put out a warning along the coastlines of Chile and Peru, and issued a tsunami watch for Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica.

"An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicenter within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours," the National Weather Service said in a statement.

MOSCOW, February 27 (RIA Novosti)