A tsunami has been triggered after a magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Chile.
The Chilean navy says some areas in the north of the country were hit by waves 45 minutes after the quake was felt. Waves have been measured at more than six feet.
The tsunami alert will remain in place until at least 9.30am BST, officials in Chile have said.
Chile has requested the "preventative evacuation" of its coastline, but this is being hampered by landslides which have blocked roads.
Chilean journalist Jorge Garreton told Sky News: "The evacuation is proceeding normally. Northern Chile has been expecting an earthquake. There were a number of exercises in the recent past. People know where they have to go to the safety zones.
"The northern cities are low-lying so they have to go up to the mountains. They have been advised not to take vehicles but to walk."
Authorities in Peru have also started evacuating communities in the southern coastal region of Ica.
Chilean TV shows geological data from the magnitude-8.2 tremor The huge tremor occurred at 6.46pm local time (10.46pm BST) on Tuesday. So far only minor injuries have been reported and there is no serious damage to infrastructure.
The warning initially placed the entire Pacific Coast of Latin America on alert but has now been downgraded to just Chile and Peru.
"An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicenter within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours," the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said.
The quake hit 62 miles (99km) northwest of the mining town of Iquique.
It happened just 12.5 miles (20.1 km) below the seabed - making it feel even more powerful.
The tremor shook buildings in parts of the nearby nations of Bolivia and Peru.
At least eight strong aftershocks followed in the first few hours, including a 6.2 tremor.
Residents of Chile's northern coastline evacuating More aftershocks and even a larger quake could not be ruled out, according to seismologist Mario Pardo at the University of Chile.
The area has been rocked by several quakes in the last two weeks. A magnitude-6.7 quake on March 16 prompted more than 100,000 people to briefly evacuate low-lying areas.
US officials say there is no imminent threat of a tsunami along the coasts of Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon or Washington.
A 8.8-magnitude quake caused a tsunami that killed more than 500 people in Chile in February 2010.
Sky News's Greg Milam said: "They learnt a lot of lessons from the quake in 2010 about the need not only of getting the warnings out but also about giving people somewhere to go.
"They won't have supplies sitting in the shelters day by day but they will have capabilities to get those supplies there.
"There was an evacuation a couple of weeks ago. There was no tsunami on that occasion but that would have been a wake-up call, as the earthquakes here over the past few weeks have been a wake-up call about the need to be prepared."
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