Rescue workers with sniffer dogs are searching for survivors in Chile's earthquake-ravaged cities and villages.
Four days after the 8.8-magnitude earthquake killed almost 800 people in south-central Chile, police and troops have managed to quell looting and violence in the hard-hit city of Concepcion, 115km southeast of the epicentre.
An 18-hour nightly curfew is in place in the city, Chile's second biggest, with 14,000 troops patrolling there and other cities and towns to keep order and oversee aid distribution.
Military trucks and helicopters set off from the quake-hit city of Talca with food and water for victims in other devastated areas, while rescue crews stepped up the search in coastal towns and hamlets from Concepcion further north to Constitucion for any survivors trapped in the debris.
At dawn, firemen with hammers and cranes searched for people trapped in a building that had collapsed in Concepcion.
So far, 799 people have been confirmed dead, either killed by one of the world's biggest earthquakes in a century or the tsunami it triggered along Chile's coastline.
The death toll is likely to rise, with some reports putting the number of missing as high as 500 in Constitucion alone.
The town, with a population of nearly 40,000, accounts for nearly half of the official death toll and was one of several coastal towns nearly wiped out by the quake and tsunamis.
Chilean emergency officials and the military blamed each other for not clearly warning coastal villages of tsunamis after the quake.
With looting now largely under control, authorities dispatched crews with dogs trained to find survivors and help pull bodies from the rubble.
Many Chileans complained that scores of deaths could have been avoided had the government responded more decisively to the quake, which set off a tsunami a few hours later that killed many along the coastline.
The government of President Michelle Bachelet admits that rescue efforts have been slow, in part because of mangled roads, downed bridges and power cuts.
But officials also misjudged the extent of the damage and initially declined offers of international aid.
During a brief visit, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered satellite phones to help in relief efforts and pledged more aid.
President Bachelet also reached out to other countries, asking for desalination plants and generators.
The disaster hit Chile, a model of economic stability for Latin America, just as it was emerging from a recession caused by the global economic downturn.
Still, Moody's Investors Service maintained a positive outlook on its sovereign ratings, underlining the strength of Chile's finances.
Most of the country's huge copper mines, a backbone of the economy, have returned to normal activity, easing supply fears that sent global copper prices sharply higher on Monday.
Incoming Finance Minister Felipe Larrain today told Reuters he was studying different options to fund reconstruction.
Analysts say the next government, which takes power next week, may be forced to issue debt, tap into savings from copper boom times or turn to credit lines.
Some analysts estimate the damage could cost Chile up to $30 billion, or about 15% of its Gross Domestic Product.
The disaster poses a daunting challenge for billionaire businessman Sebastian Pinera, a conservative who was elected president in January, ending 20 years of centre-left rule.
Mr Pinera ran for office pledging to boost economic growth to 6% per year, but could see his government undermined if reconstruction efforts drag.
The economy had been expected to grow around 5% this year but analysts see the quake eroding between 1 or 2 percentage points off that forecast.
