8.2 Earthquake Rocks Northern Coast of Chile: Celebs Tweet Thoughts and Prayers

"Stay safe," tweeted Snooki, who was born in the South American nation

By Natalie Finn Apr 02, 2014 2:12 AMTags
Twitter, ChileTwitter

The whole world's thoughts and prayers will be with the people of Chile tonight.

An 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the northern coast of the South American nation at 6:46 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, triggering tsunami warnings in Chile, Peru and Ecuador and tsunami watches in Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica. (First reports were of 8.0, but the number was soon bumped up.

Chile's National Emergency Office has asked all residents living along the country's expansive coast to evacuate and social media is awash with photos and videos of crowded streets where people seem to be abiding with the government's request.

Twitter

And as tends to be the case when tragedy or natural disaster strikes, reactions started pouring in immediately viaTwitter, not least of which from that sliver of the site known as the celebrity twitterverse.

Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, who was born in Chile, was among the first to tweet, writing, "My prayers are with Chile right now. Stay safe #BirthCountry."

Others followed, and we bet that many more will be weighing in throughout the night. Here's a sampling: