State President Nguyen Minh Triet on February 28 sent a message of condolence to his Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet Jeria, over great losses in humans and property caused by a powerful earthquake a day earlier.

The same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Gia Khiem, who is also in his capacity as the ASEAN Chair, extended condolences to the Chilean Foreign Minister, Mariano Fernandez.

A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Chile early February 27, killing at least 85 people. President Michelle Bachelet Jeria declared a "state of catastrophe" in the country.

The earthquake triggered a number of tsunami alerts and warnings across the Pacific Ocean . According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, the earthquake generated tsunamis carrying waves as high as 1.5 metres and traveling at 800 km per hour to the north and south.

Tsunami warnings were issued over a wide area, including Chile , Peru , Ecuador , Colombia , Panama , Costa Rica , Antarctica, the US state of Hawaii as well as far-off countries, including New Zealand , Australia , Japan , the Philippines , and dozens of other Pacific islands such as Tonga and Samoa .

However, Dr. Nguyen Tu Son, from Vietnam ’s Institute of Geophysics , rejected any effects of the earthquake, saying that Vietnam is far away from the epicentre and encircled by a lot of islands.

By the afternoon of February 28, Vietnam has yet to receive any warnings from tsunami warning centres around the world, Son added./.