Protesters have forced the government to scrap a vote on controversial plans to allow Compaore to extend his 27-year rule, with tens of thousands of people joining a mass rally in the capital Ouagadougou calling for the strongman to go.
Hundreds stormed parliament and other public buildings, including the national television headquarters, ransacking offices and setting fire to cars, despite a heavy police and army presence across the capital.
"A state of emergency has been declared throughout the country," a statement from the presidency said.
"The army chief of staff is charged with carrying out this decree, which enters into force from this day."
The document was not dated and carried a signature that did not resemble the president's usual one.
Protesters had also broken into the headquarters of the national television station RTB, reportedly pillaging equipment and smashing cars.
Crowds later massed near the presidential palace, but were held back by troops from the presidential guard who fired warning shots into the air.
The United States, Burkina Faso's former colonial ruler France and the African Union voiced alarm over the unrest gripping the poor west African nation, while the UN chief was sending an envoy to help restore calm and the EU called for an end to the violence.
"The army is united with the people," claimed Benewende Sankara, a leading light in the opposition, calling for Compaore to resign to enable peace to be restored.
Army chief Nabere Honore Traore met with retired general Kouame Lougue, a former defence minister being touted by the opposition as a replacement for Compaore, to discuss the crisis.
One man was killed in the chaos that erupted just before politicians were due to vote on the legislation that would allow Compaore - who took power in a 1987 coup - to contest next year's election, AFP correspondents said.
The government, facing its worst crisis since a wave of mutinies shook the country in 2011, later announced it was calling off the vote.
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