Three powerful aftershocks jolt central Chile

Three strong aftershocks shook central Chile early Friday, sending panicked residents rushing out of their homes.

CONCEPCION, March 5, 2010 (AFP) - Three strong aftershocks shook central Chile early Friday, sending panicked residents rushing out of their homes and leveling more buildings in an area already hard hit by last week's monster earthquake.

A first magnitude 6.2 quake jolted people awake at 6:20 am (0920 GMT), just six days after a historic 8.8-quake and ensuing tsunami waves killed over 800 people and left some two million homeless, Chile's emergency management agency Onemi said.

It was followed by a 6.8-magnitude tremor -- the most powerful of more than 200 to rattle Chile since Saturday's huge quake and a 6.9-magnitude temblor that struck 87 minutes later -- and another measuring 6.6 in magnitude.

Buildings already damaged in the disaster collapsed, although Onemi's initial report said Friday's quakes caused no injuries or serious damage.

The strong tremors came just as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was due to begin a two-day visit to assess the damage and relief needs in the quake zone.

He was also scheduled to meet with President Michelle Bachelet, who has called for a period of national mourning as discrepancies emerged over a death toll potentially lower than official figures.

As rescue dogs combed the fetid coastline, where emergency personnel believe huge waves swept hundreds to their deaths, the government said three days of mourning would be observed from Sunday in honor of the quake victims.

Friday's 6.8 temblor hit at 8:47 am (1147 GMT), at a depth of 30 kilometers (19 miles), just 30 kilometers from Chile's second-largest city Concepcion, already badly damaged by Saturday's disaster, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The follow-up aftershock of magnitude 6.6 struck at 8:51 am (1151 GMT) some 41 kilometers (25 miles) from Concepcion.

The USGS did not issue an alert for a destructive widespread tsunami, but said authorities should be on the lookout for possible localized tsunamis within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the earthquake epicenter.

The official death toll stands at 802, but Bachelet, touring the heart of the disaster zone for the first time Thursday, said it included some 200 people who should be listed as missing but were prematurely added to the death toll.

Bachelet, who called for the national flag to be hung from each house during the mourning period, predicted it could take up to four years for the South American nation to fully recover from its worst quake in half a century.

The stench of death was everywhere as she arrived in Concepcion to inspect the massive aid operation struggling to get food and water to ravaged areas.

"This is testing us as a nation once again. Chile will get back on its feet. What has happened to us is terrible, of colossal dimensions," Bachelet said as she talked with relief workers.

Thousands of Chilean troops sent to central and southern regions have largely managed to quell the looting that erupted in the wake of the disaster.

In the small coastal town of Constitucion, vans, cars and small trucks flying the Chilean flag sped around loaded with supplies.

In low-lying coastal area, more and more people fled for higher ground despite government reassurances.

"I want to go home, but my little girls won't go back," said Andrea Luna Casanova, with her two young daughters by her side.

"They cry whenever we mention it. They were terrified by the quake. We live on the seventh floor and it just shook and shook."

A false tsunami alert on Wednesday sent terrified people scrambling for the hills. Several powerful aftershocks have further rattled already tense nerves.

Bachelet, whose presidency ends March 11, has deployed 14,000 troops and imposed broad curfews in the quake region, an unprecedented move since the 17-year military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet which ended only in 1990.

She will be replaced by president-elect Sebastian Pinera, who inherits the huge task of rebuilding the South American country.

Despite being considered a model of political and economic stability in Latin America, Chile has struggled to cope with catastrophe of this scale.

Many of the nation's lifeline industries, from agriculture and fishing to tourism and trade, were decimated by the disaster.