The Chilean authorities imposed a curfew...

The 8.8-magnitude earthquake occurred to the north of Chile"s second largest city Concepcion with a population of some 200,000. According to latest reports, 708 people were killed as a result of the tremor.

On Sunday, there were numerous 4.8-6.1 magnitude aftershocks in Chile.

Earlier, a state of emergency was declared in Maule and Biobio. The curfew was imposed for Sunday night, from 9.00 p.m. local time (0.00 GMT) to 6.00 a.m. local time (9.00 GMT), in order to prevent looting in quake-hit areas.

Looting cases were reported in Chile"s capital, Santiago, and in other quake-hit locations.

Concepcion Mayor Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe requested the country"s authorities to send troops to the affected regions to assure security.

According to the country"s president, Michelle Bachelet, some 2 million Chileans were left homeless and 1.5 million houses were damaged by the quake.

MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti)