5 dead as tsunami hits Chile

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  AP A military vehicle patrols after an earthquake in Iquique, Chile. A powerful magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck off northern Chile on Tuesday night, setting off a small tsunami that forced evacuations.
   
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  AP People gathered to avoid the tsunami after an earthquake in Iquique, Chile.

Tsunami waves generated by an earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter Scale that hit off the Chile coast on Tuesday struck some areas in the north of the country.

The Chilean National Office for Emergency Tuesday organised an evacuation of more than 10,000 people in some coastal areas, Xinhua reported.

According to the University of Chile Seismological Service, the major tremor hit off the Chilean coast at 8.46 p.m. (11.46 p.m. GMT) and the epicentre, with a depth of 44 km, is located 99 km northwest of the mining port of Iquique, near the border with Peru.

Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo attributed the five deaths to heart attacks or being crushed.

Thousands have lost power, and hundreds of thousands of Chileans are spending the night away from their beds due to the evacuation order, which remains in effect for northern Chile.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the quake at 8.0 magnitude.

Local radio reported that power went out and communications were affected in some parts of northern Chile while some roads and highways in northern Chile were blocked by landslides, causing traffic jams.

So far, at least 10 strong aftershocks, including a 6.2-magnitude tremor, have occurred.

300 female inmates escape prison

More than 300 inmates escaped from a women’s prison amid a tsunami alert in northern Chile, the interior minister said.

“Around 100 special forces will be sent to the area” of the remote town of Iquique, around 200 kilometres from the Peruvian border, to deal with the problem, Rodrigo Penailillo told reporters.