Rescuers braved aftershocks and continued to search for survivors in Concepcion's devastated streets on Sunday as the government attempted to quell the looting by sending in soldiers to restore law and order.
The death toll currently stands at 708 and is expected to rise after one of the biggest earthquakes in centuries hit the South American country on Saturday just before dawn local time.
In the hard-hit city of Concepcion, firefighters pulling survivors from a toppled apartment block were forced to pause because of tear gas fired to stop looters, who were wheeling off everything from microwave ovens to canned milk at a damaged supermarket across the street.
Efforts to determine the full scope of destruction were undermined by an endless string of terrifying aftershocks that continued to turn buildings into rubble.
Officials said 500-thousand houses were destroyed or badly damaged in the 8.8 magnitude earthquake, and President Michele Bachelet said "a growing number" of people were listed as missing.
She signed a decree giving the military control over security in the province of Concepcion, where looters were pillaging supermarkets, gas stations, pharmacies and banks.
The president, who leaves office on March 11, also said the country would accept some of the offers of aid that have poured in from around the world.
To eliminate the need for looting, Bachelet announced that essentials on the shelves of major supermarkets would be given away for free, under the supervision of authorities.
Troops and police will also distribute food and water, she said.
In Concepcion, the largest city in the disaster zone, a new, 15-story apartment building toppled onto its side. Many of those who lived on the side that wound up facing the sky could climb out; those on the other side were not so lucky and many remain trapped.
An estimated 60 people remained trapped in the 70-unit apartment building.
Rescuers worked carefully for fear of aftershocks.
Ninety jolts of magnitude 5 or greater shuddered across the region in the first 24 hours after the quake, including one nearly as large as the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12.
Firefighters in Concepcion were about to lower a rescuer deep into the rubble when the scent of tear gas fired at looters across the street forced them to interrupt their efforts.
The sound of chain saws, power drills and sledgehammers breaking through concrete competed with the sounds of water cannon fired at looters.
Crowds also shouted as they found new ways into a four-story supermarket each time police retreated.
Creative looters even used long tubes of bamboo and plastic to siphon gasoline from underground tanks at a closed petrol station. Others rummaged through the station's restaurant.
Many defended the scavenging - of food if not television sets - as a necessity because officials had not brought food or water.
Even Concepcion's Mayor, Jacqueline van Rysselberghe, complained that food aid was not reaching the city.
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