SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Authorities lifted tsunami warnings for Chile's long coastline early Wednesday after a magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck the South American nation's northern coast. Six people were crushed to death or suffered fatal heart attacks, a remarkably low toll for such a powerful shift in the Earth's crust. 
 
 A fire burns at a restaurant after an earthquake in Iquique, Chile, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. A powerful magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck off Chile's northern coast Tuesday night. There were no immediate... (Associated Press) 
 
 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, Tuesday, April 1,... (Associated Press) 
 
 A view of the city of Iquique, Chile, after an earthquake struck late Tuesday, April 1, 2014. A powerful magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck off Chile's northern coast Tuesday night. Buildings also shook... (Associated Press) 
 
 The extent of damage from Tuesday night's quake couldn't be fully assessed before daybreak, President Michelle Bachelet said, but she wasn't taking any chances. She declared a state of emergency in the region and sent a military plane with 100 anti-riot police to join 300 soldiers deployed to prevent looting and round up escaped prisoners. 
 
 Thousands were evacuated from low-lying areas, but most began to return home as the tsunami alerts were lifted along Chile's long coast. 
 
 The shaking touched off landslides that blocked roads, knocked out power for thousands, damaged an airport and started fires that destroyed several businesses. About 300 inmates escaped from a women's prison in the city of Iquique, forcing the closure of the border with Peru. Officials said some two dozen had been captured early Wednesday. In Arica, another city close to the quake's offshore epicenter, hospitals treated minor injuries, and some homes made of adobe were destroyed, authorities said. Mining in Chile, which is the world's top copper producing nation, was not affected, although world prices for the red metal jumped as the quake raised supply concerns because most of the Chilean mining industry is in the northern regions. 
 
 Chile's Navy lifted tsunami warnings for all of Chile long coastline at around 7 a.m. local time (11 a.m. GMT). The mandatory evacuation orders had remained in effect until nearly dawn for coastal areas north of Antofagasta, a decision backed by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, regarding the coastline of Chile as still dangerous. 
 
 Bachelet, who just returned to the presidency three weeks ago, spoke well after midnight, five hours after the quake struck and flew to quake-hit regions on Wednesday morning to assess the damage. 
 
 It was not lost on many Chileans that the last time she presided over a major quake, days before the end of her 2006-10 term, her emergency preparedness office prematurely waved off a tsunami danger. Most of the 500 dead from that magnitude-8.8 tremor survived the shaking, only to be caught in killer waves in a disaster that destroyed 220,000 homes and washed away large parts of many coastal communities. 
 
 "The country has done a good job of confronting the emergency. I call on everyone to stay calm and follow the authorities' instructions," Bachelet tweeted after Tuesday night's temblor. 
 
 When she finally addressed the nation, she said her interior minister would monitor the tsunami threat throughout the night and coordinate the emergency response. "Classes have been suspended, and we will be able to know the extent of the damage in the light of day," she added. 
 
 The tsunami warning center initially had cancelled tsunami watches for areas other than northern Chile and southern Peru. The only U.S. impact might be higher waves Wednesday for Hawaii's swimmers and surfers, it said. 
 
 The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the quake at 8.0, but later upgraded the magnitude of the quake that struck 61 miles (99 kilometers) northwest of Iquique. More than 20 significant aftershocks followed, 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. 
 
 Psychiatrist Ricardo Yevenes said he was with a patient in Arica when the big one hit. 
 
 "It quickly began to move the entire office, things were falling," he told local television. "Almost the whole city is in darkness." 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
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 Associated Press writers Eva Vergara in Santiago, Michael Warren in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Frank Bajak in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report. 
 
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 Luis Andres Henao on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LuisAndresHenao ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Thousands left their homes after the warning was issued, as Alpa Patel reports 
 
 A quake of 8.2 magnitude has struck off northern Chile, triggering a tsunami alert and killing at least five people. 
 
 The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 20:46 local time (23:46 GMT) about 86km (52 miles) north-west of the mining area of Iquique. 
 
 Waves of up to 2.1m (6ft) have hit some areas in Chile, and there have been power cuts, fires and landslides. 
 
 Tens of thousands of people were evacuated in affected areas, where a state of emergency has been declared. 
 
 Chilean TV broadcast pictures of traffic jams as people tried to leave. 
 
 Officials said the dead included people who were crushed by collapsing walls or died of heart attacks. 
 
 Iquique Governor Gonzalo Prieto told local media that in addition to those killed, several people had been seriously injured. 
 
 While the government said it had no reports of significant damage to coastal areas, a number of adobe homes were reported destroyed in Arica. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption A fire broke out at a restaurant on the shore at Iquique 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Chileans on the coast evacuated to higher ground 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Streets across Peru and Chile were deserted following the tsunami alert 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Hundreds of thousands of Chileans are spending the night away from their beds because of the evacuation order, which remains in effect for northern Chile 
 
 Further damage may not be known until dawn. The tsunami warning in Chile will last at least until 08:00 GMT. 
 
 The quake shook modern buildings in Peru and in Bolivia's high altitude capital of La Paz - more than 470km (290 miles) from Iquique. 
 
 At least eight strong aftershocks followed in the few hours after the quake, including a 6.2 tremor. 
 
 Downtown looks like a ghost town Kurt Hertrampf,, Hostel owner, Arica 
 
 The Chilean interior ministry told the BBC that one of the main roads outside Iquique was cut off because of hillside debris. 
 
 The ministry says that partial landslides have also taken place between the towns of Putre and General Lagos. 
 
 The interior minister also told Chilean TV that some 300 women inmates had escaped from a prison in Iquique. The authorities are reported to have deployed a planeload of special forces to guard against looting. 
 
 Chilean Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said President Michelle Bachelet was being kept informed. She is to travel to the affected area. 
 
 "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, so that the armed forces and police can coordinate and provide security to the residents," he said. 
 
 'A big one' 
 
 The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (TWC) issued an initial warning for Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama. 
 
 However, all warnings, watches and alerts were later lifted except for Chile and Peru. 
 
 Tsunami watches - in which the danger of tidal waves is deemed to be less serious - had been in place for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras. 
 
 "Everyone along our coast should be alert and ready," Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said on Twitter. 
 
 Ecuador later reduced its alert but maintained a high level of vigilance for the Galapagos Islands. 
 
 High waves hit parts of the Chilean coast within 45 minutes of the quake. Pisagua, Patache and Iquique all saw big waves. 
 
 "We have asked citizens to evacuate the entire coast," Chilean home office minister Mahmud Aleuy said. 
 
 Evacuations were also ordered in Peru, where waves 2m (6.5ft) above normal forced about 200 people to leave the seaside town of Boca del Rio near the Chilean border, police said. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption People take refuge in the Chilean coastal city of Antofagasta 
 
 A British expatriate near the northern Chilean city of Antofagasta told the BBC that there had been several tremors since the last quarter of last year. 
 
 "But this earthquake, even with the increased distance, seemed to last a lot longer," Patrick Moore said. 
 
 "I was just sitting on my bed and normally these tremors using last at the very longest about 40 seconds - this one felt like it lasted about two minutes. 
 
 "I knew it was bad so I immediately went online to see what had happened and saw a tsunami warning that's been put in place which confirmed my fears that it was a big one." 
 
 Kurt Hertrampf, a hostel owner in Arica, told the BBC there was a big blackout in the town after the quake and he was surprised the telephone line was still working. He added: "Downtown looks like a ghost town." 
 
 The area close to the epicentre is mineral rich, but none of the major copper companies reported any break in production. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Geologist Patrick Moore in the Atacama Desert: "I was lying on my bed and the room was shaking" 
 
 Chile is one of the most seismically active countries in the world. 
 
 Central and southern areas of the country were hit by a powerful earthquake of 8.8 magnitude quake followed by a tsunami that devastated scores of towns in February 2010. 
 
 In 1960 an area of Chile south of Concepcion was hit by a 9.5 magnitude which caused about 1,655 deaths and a tsunami in Hawaii and Japan. 
 
 The 9.0 magnitude quake that struck Japan on 11 March 2011 caused a devastating tsunami and left more than 15,000 people dead, with more than 3,200 missing. ||||| An earthquake of magnitude 8.2 has jolted northern Chile, triggering a tsunami alert and the evacuation of thousands of people from coastal areas. At least five people were killed and more than 300 women escaped from a coastal prison. 
 
 The quake was centred under the Pacific Ocean 61 miles north-west of the city of Iquique and struck at 8.46pm as thousands of residents were arriving home from work. 
 
 As sirens blared and emergency warnings urged residents to evacuate by foot to higher ground, in coastal cities traffic jams ensued as panicked residents sought to escape the coast. The first tsunami surge measured 2.5 metres (8.2ft) and flooded low-lying areas of Iquique including a medical clinic and bus terminal. 
 
 An image released by the US Geological Survey shows the location of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake off the coast of Chile 100km from the city of Iquique. Photograph: USGS/EPA 
 
 While thousands of residents sought refuge in the hills, an ad-hoc security force of police and members of the Chilean armed forces searched Iquique for the estimated 329 female prisoners thought to have escaped. Initial reports from Chilean investigative police said 16 prisoners had been apprehended. Firefighters, meanwhile, battled a huge blaze in central Iquique and the lack of water and electricity added to a sense of chaos. 
 
 In Santiago, a contingent of special forces police boarded a Hercules transport plane and were flown north to provide reinforcements and help prevent looting. In Iquique, police took control of service stations and provided perimeter security for supermarkets. Government officials said attempts to loot stores and abandoned homes in Iquique were rebuffed by police. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Chileans flee coastal areas after a tsunami alert triggered by a powerful undersea earthquake. 
 
 Reports of damage to infrastructure and homes began filtering in during the early hours of Wednesday. Several highways were reportedly blocked by rockslides and the airport control tower in Iquique had been damaged. 
 
 Strong aftershocks shook northern Chile every few minutes throughout early Wednesday, some measuring above magnitude six. Earthquake experts at the Universidad de Chile predicted the aftershocks would continue for months. 
 
 The Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, called on residents to maintain calm and said a full damage estimate would be made at daybreak. Bachelet immediately announced a visit to northern Chile and confirmed that Brazil, Peru and Argentina had offered material support. 
 
 Location of the earthquake in northern Chile 
 
 Bachelet, who took office in mid-March, sought to avoid a repeat of her widely criticised reaction to a deadly earthquake during a previous stint as president. An 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Chile on 27 February 2010 killed an estimated 500 Chileans and caused a massive tsunami that government officials had told coastal residents would not happen. 
 
 
 
 When the huge wave hit – measuring up to 60ft high – it destroyed large swaths of the Chilean coastline and blemished Bachelet’s previously stellar reputation. 
 
 Over the past four years, the Chilean government has repeatedly held tsunami practice drills and earthquake of magnitude 6.7 on 16 March prompted the evacuation of more than 100,000 people in Iquique. Dozens of small tremors in recent weeks have kept northern Chile residents on edge. 
 
 Given that three of the 10 largest earthquakes ever recorded have been in Chile, the populace is long accustomed to earthquake survival protocols. Building standards in Chile require multiple storey buildings to be capable of withstanding a 9.0 earthquake, though in rural areas many older buildings – often made of adobe – are prone to sudden and often deadly collapse.
– Tens of thousands of Chileans have fled their homes for higher ground after a magnitude 8.2 earthquake caused 8-foot waves, power outages, fires, and landslides, the BBC reports. At least six people have been killed, which the AP notes is "a remarkably low toll for such a powerful shift in the Earth's crust." More: In the city of Iquique, 61 miles southeast of the epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, police and soldiers are searching the partially flooded city for 300-plus escaped female prisoners, reports the Guardian. So far a little more than two dozen have been recaptured. A hundred anti-riot police and 300 soldiers have been flown into the area to aid the hunt, and to guard against looting. Emergency officials say residents complied with orders to evacuate coastal areas, CNN reports. "We will know the extent of the damage as time goes by and when we inspect the areas in the light of day," Chile President Michelle Bachelet says. "The country has faced these first emergency hours very well." She has declared a state of emergency. The quake initially triggered tsunami warnings, but those have all now been lifted, allowing thousands of people to return to their homes, though evacuation orders remain in place for some coastal areas. But Chileans are all too aware that Bachelet, who recently returned to power, prematurely called off a tsunami warning the last time she was president, in the wake of a far more deadly 2010 quake. This time the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center backs the decision, however. It also said that California and the West Coast were safe, though it warned that swimmers and surfers in Hawaii might experience higher waves today.