The tsunami alert went out hours before the first waves, traveling at the speed of a passenger jetliner, were expected to hit Hawaii at 11:19 this morning, local time (Video: Tsunami 101).



Tourists and coastal residents are expected to wake up to tsunami alarms and evacuation instructions several hours earlier, tsunami authorities told the Associated Press (tsunami safety tips).



The earthquake occurred along the junction of the Nazca and South American tectonic plates, which are colliding off the coast of Chile at a rate of 3 inches (80 millimeters) per year (map of Chile).



The coastline of Chile is one of the most active tectonic zones in the world, with 13 temblors of magnitude 7.0 or