"(AP) The 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile early Saturday morning released 500 times the energy of the 7.0-magnitude quake that struck Haiti last month, a geophysicist told CBS' "The Early Show."

Tsunami warnings were issued for much of the Pacific, including Hawaii, following the quake that struck near the Chilean coast, killing at least 76 people.

"When the earthquake occurred, it moved the land and then it moved the water causing the tsunami," said U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Jessica Sigala. "And the coastal areas of Chile have already noticed the wave heights up to about 7 feet."

Sigala said Hawaiians can expect to see the waves from this tsunami around 11:20 a.m. local time (about 4:20 p.m. ET). "So we have to wait and see how big the waves will be."


There was also a 6.9 earthquake detected on the coast of Japan