A rescue team on Saturday saved at least 22 people from an apartment building of 15 floors in Concepcion, Chile's second largest city, a Chilean firemen organization said.

The Volunteers of the Firemen Corps conducted the rescue aided by trained dogs.

The collapsed building was built less than two years ago, and was partially occupied with about 200 people inside when the 8.8-magnitude megaquake hit the country in early dawn of Saturday.

The tremor rocked Chile at 3:34 AM local time (0734 GMT) Saturday, knocking down homes and hospitals, and triggering a tsunami that rolled menacingly across the Pacific.

Death toll at the moment is 214 and is expected to increase as time passes by.

The epicenter was only 115 km from Concepcion, a city with a population of 670,000.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2010)