In 1960, a 9.5 earthquake struck south central Chile. On Saturday morning, the country was hit by another devastating quake. This quake measuring in at 8.8.

"A lot of people describe it as it sounds like a freight train going by," said Ray Russo, a UF assistant professor and seismologist.

Russo has studied earthquakes in Chile for the past ten years.

"I was about to head to Chile tomorrow, to meet with people in Santiago, about a project that we're planning," Russo said.

On Saturday morning, 2000 miles away from the capitol of Santiago, an 8.8 earthquake struck near the city of Concepcion.

"On average, every year we get a magnitude 8 earthquake somewhere," Russo said. "For every magnitude 8 earthquake that happens, there are about 10 magnitude 7s and about 100 magnitude 6s."

Russo says studying the epicenter of a quake is important.

"If you know exactly where the fault is, how deep it is below the surface, and its altitude, how it dips in the earth, you can predict very well how much ground shaking is at the surface," Russo said.