Five people are dead in Chile after a massive earthquake struck off the country's northern coast, prompting tsunami warnings along the coast and across the Pacific.

Evacuations were ordered throughout the affected region until early Wednesday morning, when residents were told they could return to the areas south of Puerto Chacabuco, in Aysén Region.

The 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck approximately 55 miles southeast of Cuya at 8:46 p.m. local time, according to a report posted online by the Santiago Times.

The quake has been followed by at least 20 aftershocks, some measuring close to 5 on the Richter scale.

A tsunami warning, said a report by Bloomberg Businessweek, was followed by waves as high as 6.5 feet, according to emergency services.

Chile's Interior Ministry has so far confirmed five deaths and three injured in and around the port city of Iquique.

Although no significant structural damage has been reported, the Times said, there have been accounts of power outages, fire and flooding in Iquique. Local news organization have also reported instances of looting.

Interior Minister Rodrigo Peñailillo announced in the aftermath of the quake there had been 300 escapees from a women's prison in the city, with police later saying that 16 of the inmates had been recaptured.

Military personnel are reportedly patrolling the streets of the northern city to help maintain order.

"Everything is in a panic. Trees fell. Apparently the road linking Iquique and Alto hospicio is cracked," Iquique resident Estafania Morales told the Times. "Everything was falling, televisions, radios, the bathtub broke."

But, said Morales, "the real fear is because of the tsunami...I have a relative who was sailing, who works as a fisherman, and he says he has been told to go farther out to sea, until later notice, this really worries us."

National Emergency Services chief Ricardo Toro said that most hospitals in the area are functioning normally, while 11 -- in Mejillones, Chañaral, Huasco, Taltal, Toltén, Corral, Queilén, Achao, Balmaceda, Puerto Cisnes and Chacabuco -- have been evacuated due to worries about a possible tsunami strike.