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      CONCEPCION, Chile (AP) - Police fired tear gas and imposed an
overnight curfew to control looters who sacked virtually every
market in this hard-hit city as Chile's earthquake toll surpassed
700. President Michelle Bachelet promised imminent deliveries of
food, water and shelter for thousands living on the streets.

      "We are confronting an emergency without parallel in Chile's
history," Bachelet declared Sunday, a day after the magnitude-8.8
quake - one of the biggest in centuries - killed at least 708
people and destroyed or badly damaged 500,000 homes. Bachelet said
"a growing number" of people were recorded as missing.

      In Concepcion, 320 miles (515 kilometers) south of Santiago,
firefighters pulling survivors from a toppled apartment building
had to pause because of tear gas fired at looters who wheeled away
everything from microwave ovens to canned milk at a damaged
supermarket across the street.

      Ingenious looters used long tubes of bamboo and plastic to
siphon gasoline from underground tanks at a closed gasoline
station.

      Eduardo Aundez, a Spanish professor, watched with disgust as a
soldier patiently waited for looters to rummage through a downtown
store, then lobbed two tear gas canisters into the rubble to get
them out.


      "I feel abandoned" by authorities, he said. "We believe the
government didn't take the necessary measures in time, and now
supplies of food and water are going to be much more complicated."

      Looters even carted off pieces of a copper statue of South
American independence fighter Bernardo O'Higgins next to a justice
building.

      Efforts to determine the full scope of destruction were
undermined by an endless string of terrifying aftershocks that
turned more buildings into rubble - and forced thousands to set up
tents in parks and grassy highway medians.

      "If you're inside your house, the furniture moves," said
Monica Aviles, pulling a shawl around her shoulders to ward off the
cold as she sat next to a fire across the street from her apartment
building.

      As if to punctuate her fear, an aftershock set off shuddering
and groaning sounds for blocks around.


      In another part of the city, eight Peruvian families shared a
four-story building - the bravest living inside the cracked
building, the others in tents out front.


      "We've received help from the neighbors, from passing taxis and
from other people who have offered us a coat or something to eat,"
said Samantha Fernandez, who offered space to boyfriend Jose Luis
Jacinto after he fled his room during after the quake.

      Bachelet signed a decree giving the military control over
security in the provinces of Concepcion and Maule and announced a 9
p.m.-6 a.m. curfew for all non-emergency workers.

      She ordered troops to help deliver food, water and blankets and
clear rubble from roads, and she urged power companies to restore
service first to hospitals, health clinics and shelters. Field
hospitals were planned for hard-hit Concepcion, Talca and Curico.

      Bachelet also ordered authorities to quickly identify the dead
and return them to their families to ensure "the dignified burials
that they deserve."

      Bachelet, who leaves office March 11, said Chile needs field
hospitals and temporary bridges, water purification plants and
damage assessment experts - as well as rescuers to help relieve
exhausted workers.

      Defense Minister Francisco Vidal acknowledged the navy made a
mistake by not immediately activating a tsunami warning after the
quake hit before dawn Saturday. Port captains in several coastal
towns did, saving what Vidal called hundreds of lives. Thirty
minutes passed between the quake and a wave that inundated coastal
towns.


      The quake damaged houses, bridges and highways in Santiago, the
capital, though a few flights managed to land at the airport and
subway service resumed. Concepcion's airport remained closed to
commercial traffic.

      Rescuers searched for an estimated 60 people trapped inside a
new, 15-story apartment building that toppled onto its side in
Concepcion. Firefighters were lowering a rescuer deep into the
rubble when tear gas fired at looters across the street forced them
to pause their efforts.

      Police officer Jorge Guerra took names of the missing from
tearful relatives and friends.

      "There are people alive. There are several people who are going
to be rescued," he said - though the next people pulled from the
wreckage were dead.

      The sound of chain saws, power drills and sledgehammers mixed
with the whoosh of a water cannon fired at looters and the shouts
of crowds that found new ways into a four-story supermarket each
time police retreated. Some looters threw rocks at armored police
vehicles outside the Lider market, which is majority-owned by
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.


      Across the Bio Bio River in the city of San Pedro, looters
cleared out a shopping mall. A video store was set ablaze, two
automatic teller machines were broken open, a bank was robbed and a
supermarket emptied, its floor littered with mashed plums,
scattered dog food and smashed liquor bottles.

      "They looted everything," said police Sgt. Rene Gutierrez, 46.
"Now we're only here to protect the building - what's left of the
building."

      The quake generated waves that lashed coastal settlements,
leaving behind sticks, scraps of metal and masonry houses ripped in
two. A beachside carnival in the village of Lloca was swamped in
the tsunami. A carousel was twisted on its side and a Ferris wheel
rose above the muddy wreckage. Adobe buildings in Talca's town
center were flattened.


      State television showed scenes of devastation in coastal towns
and on Robinson Crusoe Island, where it said the tsunami drove
almost 2 miles (3 kilometers) into the town of San Juan Bautista.
Officials said at least five people were killed there and more were
missing.


      Bus terminals overflowed with vacationers in Chile's provinces
trying to check on their homes. Chile's summer vacation period ends
Monday.


      In Washington, the State Department urged Americans to avoid
tourist and other nonessential travel to Chile. U.S. citizens in
Chile were asked to contact family and friends in the United
States, whether by telephone, Internet or cell-phone text
messaging.


      Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton planned to briefly
visit Santiago on Tuesday as part of a five-nation Latin America
trip.


      Associated Press writers Carlos Cisternas and Eduardo Gallardo
in Santiago contributed to this report.

Gallery

Chile struck by one of strongest earthquakes ever

Tsunami sets off panic but does little damage

US offers help to Chile

Police fired tear gas and imposed an
overnight curfew to control looters who sacked virtually every
market in this hard-hit city as Chile's earthquake toll surpassed
700. President Michelle Bachelet promised imminent deliveries of
food, water and shelter for thousands living on the streets.

Chile quake death toll over 700 as rescue ramps up

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