AKIPRESS.COM - A powerful magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck in the Pacific off Chile's northern region on Tuesday, killing at least two people, causing landslides and setting off a small tsunami, leading authorities to order an evacuation, FoxNews reported.

The governor of Chile's northern Iquique area, Gonzalo Prieto, said that two people were confirmed dead and several others were seriously injured. The mayor of Tarapaca attributed the deaths to heart attacks.

Around 300 inmates escaped from a women's prison in the city of Iquique, and officials said Chile's military was sending a planeload of special forces to guard against looting.

In the city of Arica, the mayor reported some minor injuries and said some homes made of adobe were destroyed. The quake shook modern buildings in nearby Peru and in Bolivia's high altitude capital of La Paz.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the quake at 8, but later upgraded the magnitude. It said the quake struck 98 kilometers northwest of the Chilean city of Iquique at 8.46 pm, hitting a region that has been rocked by numerous quakes over the past two weeks.

Some roads in northern Chile were blocked by landslides, causing traffic jams among people leaving the coast.

Hours later, tsunami warnings or watches remained in effect for the coasts of Peru and Chile, but were lifted for elsewhere, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

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. Authorities in the U.S. state of Hawaii were on alert, but no tsunami watch was issued.

Chile is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. 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.