TSUNAMI WARNING FOR INDONESIA LIFTED

Jakarta, Feb 28 (ANTARA) - The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) has lifted its tsunami warnings for several countries, including Indonesia, a day after Chile was hit by a powerful earthquake measuring 8.8 on Richter scale on Saturday.

The PTWC said on Sunday that a number countries which were previously predicted to possibly be hit by tsunamis following the Chilean quake, were now safe from threat.

The warnings that have been lifted are those for Chili, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Antarctic, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Pitcairn, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Polynesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, Australia, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan.

According to the PTWC, the warnings for Russia and Japan are however still in place until the next announcement is made.

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 Concepcion, 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.