CONDITIONS OF INDONESIANS IN CHILE AFTER QUAKE STILL UNKNOWN

Jakarta, Feb 28 (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet obtained information on the conditions of Indonesian citizens in Chile after the country was hit by a powerful earthquake on Saturday, a ministry spokesman said.

"Up to last night, the Foreign Ministry was not yet able to communicate with the Indonesian embassy in Chile. I will not speculate about anything in the first place but it seems there has been damage to communication networks there," Teuku Faizasyah said here on Sunday.

He said that the number of Indonesian citizens in Chile was not big, possibly tens of people, particularly those who worked with the Indonesian embassy.

Faizasyah said the ministry of foreign affairs would continue to contact the Indonesian representatives in Chile to know the conditions and the presence of Indonesian citizens in that country.

A powerful earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale shook Chile at 1.34 pm Western Indonesia Time (WIB) on Saturday.

Chilean President-elect Sebastian Pinera said the number of deaths reached 120.

Reuters quoted the Chilean interior minister as saying on Sunday that at least 214 people had been killed in a powerful earthquake that struck Chile on Saturday.

The tremor rocked Chile at 3:34 a.m. local time (0734 GMT) Saturday, knocking down homes and hospitals, and triggering a tsunami that rolled menacingly across the Pacific.

Death toll at the moment is 214 and is expected to increase as time passes by. The epicenter was only 115 km from Conception, a city with a population of 670,000.

A tsunami as high as 3 meters could hit Japan's Pacific coasts following a powerful earthquake that struck Chile Saturday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said Sunday.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the epicenter of the quake was at 35.826 degrees southern latitude and 72.669 degrees eastern longitude, or about 317 km northwest of Chilean capital Santiago.