Costa Rican disaster officials ruled out the possibility of a tsunami on the country's western coastline this morning after a fierce earthquake hit Chile, killing at least 147 people, according to The Associated Press, and setting off tsunami alerts around the Pacific.

The 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck at 3:34 a.m. in Chile (12:34 a.m. Costa Rica time), 115 kilometers northeast of Concepción, at a depth of 35 km, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Larger than Haiti's recent distructive earthquake, news reports said Chile's was one of the biggest earthquakes in more than a century.

“The expansive wave of a tsunami was expected to make an impact on our coasts at 7 a.m. and would move on to Santa Elena, near the border with Nicaragua, at 8:50 a.m.,” according to a statement from Costa Rica's National Emergency Commission (CNE).

One noticeable, 24-centimeter wave came ashore in the central Pacific beach of Quepos, according to the CNE statement.

The Tico Times spoke with residents in other parts of the central Pacific, who said they did not notice anything different from the usual. “There's been nothing; just a normal day,” said Greg Miller, owner of Sandpiper Inn at Playa Hermosa, just south of Jacó.

In Nicaragua, businesses interviewed by The Tico Times in such tourist destinations as San Juan del Sur said the same: no larger-than-normal waves have been noticed.

However, a 9 a.m. report in Nicaraguan daily El Nuevo Diario said officials received reports of hard waves crashing into San Juan del Sur, Puerto Sandino and Corinto.

A tsunami was feared throughout the Pacific, prompting alerts here and in almost every country with a coast on the Pacific.

Meanwhile, the international community began to give condolences to Chile, whose final death toll caused by the earthquake is uncertain.

Peru declared that Monday will be a day of national mourning for Chile's loss, according to the Spanish newswire EFE.

EFE also reported that the European Commission President José Manuel Durao Barroso said the EC is prepared to donate 3 million euros to Chile if needed.

Coastal Chile has a history of very large earthquakes, according to the USGS, which has recorded 13 events of magnitude 7.0 or greater since 1973.

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