Crowds are gathering at beaches to watch the tsunami threatening New Zealand, says the coastguard.

Wave activity "appears to be stabilised" at previously-reported levels, Civil Defence Emergency Management says.

The first wave has reached the Chatham Islands, after a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Chile overnight. An official tsunami alert remains in place for New Zealand's entire east coast.

A tsunami generated by a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile, is expected to reach New Zealand this morning.

Official tsunami warnings are in place for the entire east coast of New Zealand after a massive earthquake in Chile overnight.

A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile early Saturday

Ten missionaries facing trial for trying to take a busload of children out of Haiti could be released from jail.

A rice seller may have lived under the rubble of a flea market for 27 days with little more than water.

Geologists from GNS Science will spend the next six months collecting information on buildings and infrastructure in Pacific Island countries.

A Chinese man has been jailed following his investigation into poorly built schools after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Even before the earthquake struck, Haiti had the highest rate of maternal and infant death, as well as the deaths of children under the age of five, of any country in the Western Hemisphere.