1,600 arrested in weeks since Chile quake

More than 1,600 people have been detained in post-quake Chile as authorities attempted to keep order and prevent looting.

More than 1,600 people have been detained in post-quake Chile as authorities attempted to keep order and prevent looting following a huge 8.8-quake two weeks ago, local media said Saturday.

Quoting military sources, La Tercera newspaper said 1,609 people had been arrested in hard-hit south central cities such as Concepcion, where some 15,000 troops had been deployed to enforce 18-hour curfews intended to contain restless residents.

By Saturday, 210 detainees remained behind bars, suspected of looting and other civil unrest, according to General Bosco Pesse, military chief for the Maule region.

Authorities have identified 497 bodies of victims of the February 27 quake -- one of the largest in modern times -- and subsequent tsunami that devastated coastal towns.

Looting and rioting led officials to approve the military deployment, a move unprecedented since the 17-year dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet ended in 1990.