Firemen fight to contain a giant blaze in Concepcion.

The city, hardest hit by Saturday's 8.8 magnitude quake which rocked Chile, has seen widespread looting in the aftermath of the disaster.

This supermarket had been looted hours before the fire broke out.

As fire fighters tried to limit the blaze, soldiers tried to control the looting.

Military police and troops armed with assault rifles patrolled the city and manned checkpoints on the streets, imposing a night time curfew.

Reports say hundreds of looters ransacked stores for food and other goods, but one Chilean said the army presence was preventing him taking supplies through to those in need.

[Miguel Uribe, Passenger]:
"I'm carrying water. They asked me what I was doing; I told them carrying water, tomatoes, apples. That's what I've got. They should be reasonable. They should take us to where we're going and return."

In Talca meanwhile, makeshift refugee camps sprung up, as displaced people slept in their cars or in improvised tents.

Residents complained that city officials had not paid enough attention to the plight of those whose homes has been destroyed by the quake and resulting tsunami.

[Rosa Sanchez, Talca Resident]:
"The authorities haven't come around here to check on us at all. Nobody has come to see how we are doing. We don't have coal, bread, nothing to eat - nothing."

The latest government death toll stands at over 700 and is expected to rise further, as scenes of destruction emerge in isolated towns swamped by giant waves, triggered by one of the strongest earthquakes in a century.