Chile's interior minister has confirmed five people are dead after the earthquake, which struck at 8.46pm local time and several others are seriously injured.
Officials said the dead included people who were crushed by collapsing walls or were killed by heart attacks.
About 300 inmates escaped from a women's prison in the city of Iquique, as landslides blocked roads, power failed for thousands, an airport was damaged and several businesses caught fire
Fire: Firefighters try
to extinguish a fire on a restaurant by the sea shore after a powerful
8.2-magnitude earthquake hit off Chile's Pacific coast in Iquique. A
tsunami warning has been issued for Chile, Peru and Ecuador, US
officials said
Effects: A man stares at a burning restaurant close to the sea shore after the quake
Dramatic night: A fire burns at a restaurant after an earthquake in Iquique, Chile, Tuesday night
A fire sends smoke billowing into the night sky in the city of Iquique, 60 miles from the earthquake's epicentre
About 16 of the women were soon recaptured after Chile's military sent a planeload of special forces to the area, the country's investigative police said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake generated a large tsunami with the biggest wave reported at 2.3 meters.
The Chilean navy said the first big wave hit the coast within 45 minutes.
While no major damage was initially reported, the true scale of the damage has yet to become clear.
Rescue: An elderly person is evacuated from a
shelter after a tsunami alarm at Antofagasta city, north of Santiago on
the southern Pacific coast, April 1, 2014
Help: The major earthquake of magnitude 8.2
struck off the coast of Chile on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami that hit
the northern part of the country
A woman is taken away in a wheelchair at a
petrol station after the quake struck at a depth of six miles, 83
kilometres from Iquique on Chile's northern coast
Evacuation: A group of people evacuates towards a
high zone due to a Tsunami alert after an 8.2 Richter scale earthquake
in Valaparaiso, Chile
Terror: Thousands pour into the streets after tremors rocked their homes in the port city of Antofagasta
In the city of Arica, 86 miles (139 kilometers) from the quake's epicenter, hospitals were treating minor injuries, and some homes made of adobe were destroyed while 90 percent of customers were without power, authorities said.
The quake also shook modern buildings in nearby Peru and in Bolivia's high altitude capital of La Paz.
Hours later, tsunami warnings or watches remained in effect for the coasts of Peru and Chile, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
Shortly before midnight, Chile's Emergency Office said its tsunami watch would remain in effect for six more hours, meaning hundreds of thousands of people along the coast would not sleep in their beds.
'We regard the coast line of Chile as still dangerous, so we're maintaining the warning,' geophysicist Gerard Fryer at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center told The Associated Press.
The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the quake at 8.0, but later upgraded the magnitude. It said the quake struck 61 miles (99 kilometers) northwest of Iquique at 8:46 p.m., hitting a region that has been rocked by numerous quakes over the past two weeks.
Psychiatrist Ricardo Yevenes said he was with a patient in Arica when the quake hit. 'It quickly began to move the entire office, things were falling,' he told local television. 'Almost the whole city is in darkness.'
Waiting: Residents wait on a street in Antofagasta, Chile, after an earthquake hits, causing a small tsunami
Nerves: People embrace on the upper floor of an
apartment building located a few blocks from the coast where they
gathered to avoid a possible tsunami after an earthquake in Iquique,
Chile
Scared: Locals gather on the street following a
tsunami alert after a powerful 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit off Chile's
Pacific coast, on April 1, 2014 in Antofagasta
Deaths: Locals gather on the street following the earthquake that left at least five dead
Shock: People in the Chilean town of Iquique
prepared to flee their homes after an earthquake off the coast led to
tsunami warnings across Latin America
Fear: Locals in Iquique stand in the street after the tsunami alert was issued for Chile, Peru and Ecuador
Nowhere to go: Families in Antofagasta sit in the street after being told to leave their homes
The quake was so strong that the shaking experienced in Bolivia's capital about 290 miles (470 kilometers) away was the equivalent of a 4.5-magnitude tremor, authorities there said.
More than 10 strong aftershocks followed in the first few hours, including a 6.2 tremor. More aftershocks and even a larger quake could not be ruled out, said seismologist Mario Pardo at the University of Chile.
Chilean Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said President Michelle Bachelet was closely watching the situation and was ready to take 'any measures' to ensure people's safety. Hundreds of soldiers were being deployed in the quake zone, and a flight would be leaving soon with 100 special forces on board, he added.
'We have taken action to ensure public order in the case of Iquique, where we've had a massive escape of more than 300 female prisoners from the Iquique jail, so that the armed forces and police can coordinate and provide tranquility and security to the residents,' he said.
Frightened residents in some towns posted videos and pictures on Twitter as they spilled out of their homes following the quake to head for safer areas inland.
Location: The earthquake struck near the coastal city of Iquique, in the northern region of Chile
Powerful: A graphic predicting the force and direction of the tsunami created by the earthquake
Danger zone: A graphic forecasting the travel time of the tsunami to coastal areas around the Pacific Ocean
Quake: A map shows the location of the powerful magnitude earthquake, around 61 miles from Iquique
Far reaching: The effects of the powerful quake were noted by a seismic station in Alaska
One woman, Javiera Mora Araya, who lives in the Chilean coastal city of Chañaral tweeted an image of her neighbours fleeing their homes and heading into the streets after the tsunami warning was issued.
Lengthy queues of traffic quickly formed as families headed inland, while others in Iquique took refuge in the city's stadium.
Some roads in northern Chile were blocked by landslides, only exacerbating the jams among people leaving the coast. But coastal residents remained calm as they head inland while waves measuring almost 2 meters (6 1/2 feet) struck their cities.
As well as damaged homes, pictured emerged of a burning restaurant and a partially destroyed church.
The quake, which struck at around 8.26pm local time, hit in an area that has been rocked by numerous quakes recently. It struck around 10km below the seabed, which would have made it feel stronger.
Evacuations also were ordered in Peru, where waves 2 meters above normal forced about 200 people to leave the seaside town of Boca del Rio. But there were no injuries or major damage, said Col. Enrique Blanco, the regional police chief in Tacna, a Peruvian city of 300,000 near the Chilean border. 'The lights went out briefly, but were re-established,' Blanco said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said a warning was also in effect for Ecuador, while a tsunami watch was also in place for Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
Swimmers and surfers in the U.S. state of Hawaii, thousands of miles away in the Pacific, might see higher waves Wednesday, the warning center said.
Ready to take 'any measures': Chilean President
Michelle Bachelet (centre) declared 'emergency zone' in the regions of
Arica and Parinacota in the northern part of the country
Chaos: There were scores of people lining the streets Tuesday night after the quake shook the region
Waves: Lights illuminate the coast after an earthquake in Iquique
Flooded: View of the local Casino flooded after the powerful 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit
Quake: The quake struck at a depth of 10
kilometers (six miles), 83 kilometers from Iquique on Chile's northern
coast, the United States Geological Survey said
Refuge: Local people take refuge inside Iquique's city stadium after fleeing their homes
Shelter: A mother comforts her two children inside the stadium
No major injuries: There were no immediate
reports of casualties or major damage on shore, but warnings for people
to flee to higher ground and advisories were issued for coastal areas up
South and Central America's huge Pacific coast
'Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated,' a statement said earlier. 'It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicentre and could also be a threat to more distant coasts.
'Authorities should take appropriate action in response to this possibility.
'This center will continue to monitor sea level data to determine the extent and severity of the threat.'
Police officer Alejandro Rosado in a Tacna, a Peruvian town near the coast, said no damage or injuries had been reported there.
Chile is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries because just off the coast, the Nazca tectonic plate plunges beneath the South American plate, pushing the towering Andes cordillera to ever-higher altitudes.
The latest activity began with a strong magnitude-6.7 quake on March 16 that caused more than 100,000 people to briefly evacuate low-lying areas. Hundreds of smaller quakes followed in the weeks since, keeping people on edge as scientists said there was no way to tell if the unusual string of tremors was a harbinger of an impending disaster.
The last recorded big quake to hit far northern Chile around Iquique was a devastating magnitude-8.3 in 1877. It unleashed a 24-meter-high (nearly 80-foot-high) tsunami, causing major damage along the Chile-Peru coast and fatalities as far away as Hawaii and Japan.
WHEN THE EARTH MOVED: WHY THE CHILEAN COAST IS PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TO EARTHQUAKES
The largest earthquake recorded in modern times hit off the
coast of Chile on May 22, 1960, and had a magnitude of 9.5
It killed around 1,655 people, injured 3,000, left 2million
homeless and caused half a billion dollars worth of damage.
Tsunami waves reached heights of 38ft (11.5m) and carried
the remains of shattered homes as far as two miles inland.
The earthquake was thought to have triggered an eruption two
days later of Volcan Puyehue, which raged for several weeks sending steam and
ash four miles into the air.
A
magnitude-8.8 quake and ensuing tsunami in central Chile in 2010 killed
more than 500 people, destroyed 220,000 homes, and washed away docks,
riverfronts and seaside resorts.
The region is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes
as it sits on the boundary between the Nazca plate and South America plate in
the earth’s crust.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article
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