A powerful earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale struck off northern Chile Tuesday night, setting off a small tsunami that forced evacuations along the country’s entire Pacific coast and much of Latin America.

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.

While it appears the area escaped major damage and casualties, landslides blocked roads, power failed for thousands, an airport was damaged and several businesses caught fire.

About 300 inmates escaped from a women’s prison in the city of Iquique. About 16 of the women were soon recaptured, Chile’s investigative police said. Chile’s military sent a planeload of special forces to the area to guard against looting.

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.

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.

Location: The earthquake struck near the coastal city of Iquique, in the northern region of Chile 

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.

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.’

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.

Quake: A shakemap shows the location of the powerful magnitude earthquake, around 61 miles from the city of Iquique 

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.

Far reaching: The effects of the powerful quake were noted by a seismic station in Alaska