The 8.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Chile early Saturday were 800 to 900 times more powerful that the 7.3-magnitude quake that shook Haiti on January 12, chief of the Mexican National Seismologic Service (SSN) said on Monday.

Carlos Valdez Gonzalez told local radio station "Radio Red" that the earthquakes released energy, which allows to measure their intensity.

Meanwhile, he noted the rare destructiveness of the Haiti quake, which killed some 300,000 people.

"We have not seen severe damages as those we saw in Haiti," Valdez said.

According to Valdez, Chile is one of the countries with a large seismic activity. "In Mexico we have seismic activity, but Chile, definitely surpasses us in magnitude."

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2010)