Hawaii was under a tsunami advisory last night after a massive magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Chile, generating at least one 10-foot wave in the South American region.

If a tsunami were to reach Hawaii's shores, the first waves would hit at about 11:19 a.m. today, according to Pacific Tsunami Warning Center officials.

The quake, initially estimated at magnitude 8.3 by the U.S. Geological Survey, struck at 3:34 a.m. today (8:34 p.m. yesterday Hawaii time). It was centered about 37 miles below the ocean surface offshore of Maule, Chile, 60 miles north-northwest of Chillan.

Buildings shook and collapsed in the Chilean capital of Santiago, 197 miles southwest of the epicenter, the Associated Press reported. There were no initial reports of casualties.

Shortly before 10 p.m., experts at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach received data from a monitoring station on the Chilean coast recording a roughly 10-foot wave, said Vindell Hsu, geophysicist at the center.

Tsunami experts were waiting for more information last night on whether the earthquake will cause a tsunami for Hawaii this morning.

Hsu said data came from a coastal station, but more accurate results will come from a deep ocean buoy, which would collect any information about water level changes in the early morning.

At press time last night, he said it was still too early to tell whether a tsunami was heading toward Hawaii. It would take 14 1/2 hours for a tsunami to reach Hawaii.

“;This is a big one,”; he said about the quake. “;At this magnitude it's very likely a tsunami will be generated, but we are waiting for the water level data.”;

If a tsunami did reach Hawaii it would affect all islands, he said.

PTWC officials issued a tsunami warning for Chile and Peru, and a tsunami watch for Ecuador.

An earthquake off Chile in 1960 generated a tsunami that killed 61 people in Hilo. The earthquake, the largest ever recorded at a magnitude 9.6, sent waves of up to 30 feet to Hilo about 15 hours after the temblor, according to an online account by Pacific Tsunami Warning Center scientist Gerard Fryer.

The tsunami caused about 2,000 deaths in Chile. The waves also flooded the coastline of Japan where 10-foot waves caused 200 deaths. Tsunami damage was also reported in the Marquesas, Samoa, and New Zealand.