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智利宣布三处地区为地震灾区

Chile has declared three northern regions hit by a 8.2 magnitude earthquake to be disaster areas.

智利宣布北部三处遭8.2级地震袭击的区域为灾区。

At least five people are known to have died and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated.

The quake struck at 20:46 local time about 86km north-west of the mining area of Iquique, the US Geological Survey said.

Waves of up to 2.1m (6ft) have hit some areas and there have been power cuts, fires and landslides.

The government said the declaration of a disaster in the Arica, Parinacota and Tarapaca regions was aimed at "avoiding instances of looting（抢劫） and disorder".

President Michelle Bachelet said the country had "faced the emergency well" and called on those in affected regions "to keep calm and follow instructions from the authorities".

She is due to visit the affected areas on Thursday.

Chilean TV broadcast pictures of traffic jams as people tried to leave the affected areas.

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 homes were reported destroyed in Arica.

Further damage may not be known until dawn.

The quake shook modern buildings in Peru and in Bolivia's high altitude capital of La Paz - more than 470km from Iquique.

At least eight strong aftershocks followed in the few hours after the quake, including a 6.2 tremor.

The Chilean interior ministry told the BBC that one of the main roads outside Iquique was cut off because of hillside debris.

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.

[.Com]

Officials later said that 26 of them had been recaptured.