Earthquake in Chile

The mortality rate has risen to 710 in 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile is a disaster, "unthinkable"
Thirty-six hours after the earthquake of magnitude 8.8, the distribution of electricity has remained a major challenge, said the president.
The earthquake hit before dawn Saturday, the fall of thousands of homes, 2 million people who treated a serious blow to one of the most stable economies in Latin America.
The Chilean Red Cross has reported that about 500,000 homes suffered significant damage from earthquakes.
More than 90 aftershocks were, ranging in size from 4,9-6,9.
Sunday morning, the growing fear of looting in some areas, including affected Concepcion, located about 70 miles (115 km) from Santiago de Chile central coast.
Desperate residents scrounged for water and supermarkets empty and damaged. Sunday morning, authorities have resorted to teargas and water cannons, in some cases distribute looters.
But there were not enough police to all people seeking food and supplies warehouses control. Some consumers are desperate, because the supermarkets were closed, and no fuel was available.
Looting is not only can be done by desperate residents, but by others who saw the chance to steal.
Besides food and essential goods, looters were taking electronics and appliance stores, "said Van Rysselberghe.
"This is the steal of everything," he said, advocating a strong military response to his city to restore calm.
Some small business owners resort to protect their stores with rifles and shotguns, and the current police was inadequate, he said.
For its part, the city government was distributing water from the main square, "said Van Rysselberghe.
The earthquake generated a tsunami that rode around the world, but initial fears that it would be as devastating as the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean not materialize.
Saturday earthquake is 700-800 times stronger than magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti in January, with 212,000 dead and more than one million displaced.
It happened at a depth of more - 21.7 miles - compared with 8.1 miles of shallow earthquake Haiti, which has contributed to much of the damage.
Coast of Chile has a deadly history of earthquakes, with 13 temblors of magnitude 7.0 or greater since 1973, the U. S. Geological Survey said. As a result, experts say, the newer buildings are built to withstand the shocks to help.
Yet the damage from the earthquake in Chile on a large scale. A 15-story skyscraper near Concepcion collapsed, major north of the country, the highway to the south has been cut in several places, and the airport of the capital were closed after the terminal suffered severe damage.
Buildings in ruins, bridges and highway overpasses and roads were destroyed bent as crumpled paper. Battered cars were scattered on the roads, many of them rest on the roof.
Vivanco said he was waiting until the shaking stops out of 17 stairs at his home. At his house, like many others in the capital, is the exterior of the building low, where appropriate, the signs of damage, while the inside, things were a disaster.
In Concepcion, the sides of entire buildings were sheared off, and at least two structures caught fire. Emergency crews rescued 30 people from a collapsed building.
In the city of Constitucion, more than 60 bodies were found and placed in a makeshift morgue in the gymnasium of a local school, a federal official said the police.
Saturday epicenter was a few miles north of the largest recorded earthquake in the world: a magnitude 9.5 earthquake in May 1960 that killed 1655 and led to a tsunami that crossed the Pacific Ocean.
Bachelet said that the areas of disaster, like an emergency, making it the support areas. He noted that two of the largest hospitals in the nation had suffered structural damage, and patients to other facilities.
Two airlines, LAN and Cencosud, announced the temporary suspension of service.