A TSUNAMI that triggered a massive alert overnight in countries around the Pacific Ocean appeared to be passing without major destruction today - except in Chile, where it began.

The 8.8 magnitude quake in the sea near Chile toppled buildings and pushed boats ashore, and the death toll of 247 victims seemed set to rise.

Soon after the seaquake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued an alert for 53 nations and territories as the underwater wave spread across the Pacific with the speed of a jet, rekindling memories of the catastrophic December 26, 2004 tsunami.

About 230,000 lives were lost around the Indian Ocean then, including 160,000 in Indonesia and 5400 in Thailand. But the Chile tsunami appeared to be a milder series of waves.

Unlike the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, which roared through Khao Lak north of Phuket at a height of nine metres, demolishing buildings and wreaking havoc, the latest tsunami appeared much less powerful, although the quake did cause death and serious damage on mainland Chile and nearby islands.

Beaches were cleared in Sydney and along the Australian coast but onlookers gathered to watch the arrival of the waves.

In places where the sea failed to produce large waves, there was some criticism of the warning process.

But Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre spokesman Alasdair (Alasdair) Hainsworth told AAP that the danger would continue for at least four hours, with the possibility of disturbance in the water for 24 hours.

Waves between 20 centimetres and 1.5 metres in height struck the New Zealand coast but as in Australia, experts warned that the danger would continue for at least 12 hours.

On Hawaii, where officials urged evacuations, waves predicted to be up to three metres in height rolled in at 20 centimetres. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has its headquarters on Hawaii.

Evacuations were also ordered in Japan, where waves of more than two metres were predicted.

As with the 2004 tsunami, the undersea geography of coastal beaches was expected to play a large part in the potential for damage from the waves.

While some Phuket beaches with steep fall-aways experienced little damage, flatter approaches to beaches triggered large waves with devastating impact in 2004.

On an otherwise beautiful day in Hawaii, the Wall Street Journal reported, few people seemed terribly put out. ''It's Hawaii,'' said John McClain, a 47-year-old instructor at the University of Hawaii who evacuated his home in downtown Honolulu even before the warning sirens went off at 6am. ''Folks are smiling.''