Dezastruos Earthquake in Chile!

An 8.2 magnitude earthquake shook the northern part of Chile on Tuesday evening, making the National Emergency Service to order the evacuation of the northern coast of the country because of the risk of tsunami. Authorities issued a tsunami alert in Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Honduras.

08:32 About 300 prisoners have escaped from the prison in Iquique, the nearest city to the epicenter of the earthquake, said the Interior Minister Rodrigo Peñalill.

He announced that about 300 inmates escaped from the Iquique prison, and Armed Forces were mobilized "as a preventive measure" to help the police bring them back.

A plane carrying about 100 members of the Special Forces is also expected to Iquique to prevent possible looting.

The quake damaged the airport control tower in the city and all flights in the three largest cities in the north, Antofagasta, Iquique and Arica, were canceled.

Telephone communications and water services were not affected, but the interruption of electricity is affecting several regions.

The first tsunami waves have already reached Pisagua in the north, and would arrive to Punta Arenas, in the extreme south of the country, in the next few hours, according to the authorities.

In Iquique, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, Mahmud Aleuy, declared that the sea retreated 2.5 meters, indicating a tsunami.

08:19 The Chilean President Michelle Bachelet declared a state of natural disaster in the Tarapacan Arica regions (north, near the border with Peru), the most affected by the earthquake.

"We have declared a state of natural disaster for Arica and Tarapaca" she said a few minutes before signing the decree at the Moneda presidential palace. She will go Wednesday in areas affected by the earthquake.

07:51 Honduras, who is afraid of the consequences of the earthquake, triggered a tsunami alert, authorities said.

The alert refers to the northwest of Gulf Fonseca, on the shores of the Pacific, where the Permanent Commission of risk prevention (Copeco) established that there are at great risk.

Copeco ordered the captains of these ports to restrict small craft navigation and average ones over a period of 18 hours.

Alert covers about ten coastal villages from the Choluteca and Valle departments in the south of the country.

07:27 At least five people died in the earthquake, said the Chilean Interior Minister Rodrigo Peñalillo.

"I sadly declare the death of five people, four men and a woman, in Iquique and Alto Hospicio, victims of a heart attack or rubble crash," said the minister.

The quake occurred at 20.46 local time, about 89 km southwest of Cuya, at a depth of 46.4 kilometers, according to the National Seismology Center of the University of Chile.

The American Center for Geological Studies also announced an earthquake with the magnitude of 8 degree. The tsunami alert would cover two countries, namely Ecuador and Peru, according to the American Center.

In turn, the national authorities of Ecuador and Peru have announced that they have also issued tsunami alerts.