Chile keeps shaking, rattling survivors
CONCEPCION, Chile (Reuters) – Frightened by more heavy aftershocks, coastal residents in Chile camped out on hillsides on Thursday, five days after one of the strongest earthquakes in a century killed more than 800 people.
An emotional President Michelle Bachelet, a popular leader who steps down next week, pleaded with Chileans to stop hoarding supplies as aid reached central Pacific coast towns hardest hit by Saturday's 8.8 magnitude quake and surging tsunamis.
She told local television that the country would likely seek international credit for the reconstruction effort following damage estimated at up to $30 billion, saying rebuilding would take at least three to four years.
The original quake broke bridges and highways, cracked modern buildings in the capital's suburbs, shattered vats at Chile's famous vineyards and briefly shut down the country's copper mines, the biggest in the world.
Panicked over a possible repeat of the ferocious tide, people scurried up the hills near hard-hit Concepcion after one particularly strong aftershock on Wednesday; another 6.1 magnitude tremor jolted the country that evening.
Retailers were left reeling after looters sacked shelves and burned a supermarket.
While the death toll stood at 802, hundreds more were unaccounted for. Rescue teams working with search dogs searched collapsed buildings in Concepcion through the night, including one destroyed 15-story building where a handful of people thought to be trapped.
But the government official overseeing the Bio Bio region most ravaged by the quake said the search for corpses should be delayed as emergency workers focus on finding the living and distributing food.
"(The search for bodies) has taken up too much time, we are going to move to a second phase. Our priority will be to attend to the living," said the official, Jaime Toha.
Many families in coastal areas were camped on hillsides, scared to return to their homes.
Very few survivors emerged from the water after enormous waves sucked them out to sea on Saturday.
"It's amazing to be alive," said 43-year-old non-swimmer Bernardita Vives, who was tossed back on shore with broken bones after the sea dragged her away from Constitucion, a picturesque coastal town that was devastated and lost an estimated 350 people.
Bachelet told Chileans there was enough food, water and energy to go around, and called for calm after the army stepped in to arrest looters. Curfews were still in place in some areas to prevent more disorder.
Looting slowed as packages of aid with basic staples like rice, oil, sugar and pasta arrived to the most affected areas and hundreds of troops patrolled the streets.
But citizens in Constitucion griped that some merchants were selling food at three times the normal price. [ID:nN03244474] Long lines formed at two recently opened supermarkets in Concepcion where customers were only allowed to buy a limited amount of goods.
The country's top oil refinery was seriously damaged and could be shut down for a month, boosting the need for fuel imports in the world's top copper producer [ID:nN03120690]
Another major refinery could be up and running by next week. But Chile, which produces almost no fossil fuels, was stepping up imports from Asia and the United States.
Economists and financial analysts said Chile could be expected to get back on its feet soon, partly because it has robust savings to help it rebuild but also because most of its rich copper mines were only briefly affected by the quake.
El Mercurio newspaper said the affected mines lost only around 6,000 tonnes of copper when production was halted by power outages.
(With reporting by Ignacio Badal in Constitucion and Mica Rosenberg and Simon Gardner in Santiago, Writing by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
