Death Toll in Chile Tops 700 After Deadly Earthquake

On Sunday, Chile's president sent the army to help police battle looting in the city of Conception, which was hit hard after an earthquake and tsunami devastated cities. President Michelle Bachelet also made an appeal for international help, and announced that the death toll was now at 708 people - double the estimate from Saturday.

Bachelet also said that Chile would accept some of the offers of aid that have poured in from around the world, and said that the country needs field hospitals and temporary bridges, water purification plants and damage assessment experts, in addition to rescuers to help relief workers who have been frantically working for more than a day now.

Along several hundred miles of Chile's central and southern coast, towns have been reporting massive damage from the tsunami that came after the 8.8 magnitude quake. Maule, a region south of the capital city of Santiago, has the most confirmed deaths so far at 504.

Jacqueline van Rysselberghe, mayor of Concepcion, said that the situation in her city was getting "out of control" due to shortages of basic supplies. In the coastal towns of Pelluhue and Constitucion, 350 deaths have been reported and television images showed cars tossed atop homes and boats lifted far from the waterfront.

Inmates escaped from prison and police warned that criminals were robbing banks. Police used tear gas in an attempted to keep hundreds of looters away from several markets, and power and gas lines snapped as the quake hit on Saturday.

The search is still on for people who may be trapped underneath crumpled buildings. Tens of thousands of people camped outside overnight, and government-run television reported that 1.5 million homes had been destroyed or declared unsafe.

According to the US Geological Survey said that the 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck 56 miles northeast of the city of Concepcion at a depth of 22 miles at 3:34am local time on Saturday. It was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil - 1,800 miles east - and shook buildings in Argentina's capital of Buenos Aires.