Ralston Valley [e]Xpress Newspaper

Credit to The Huffington Post

Yesterday at approximately 3:30 am, an earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter Scale struck off the shore of Maule, Chile, near the city of Concepción.

At least 708 people have died, though in an earthquake death tolls are difficult to calculate as the disaster tends to bury its victims.

Two subsequent earthquakes have since struck; yesterday a quake measuring 6.9, and today another measuring 6.0.  While significantly smaller than the first, these tremors still retain the power to knock over cruder structures for up to 100 miles.

Concerning the 8.8-er, Concepción is devastated and inmates have escaped from a nearby prison.