FORTY retirees enjoying their summer vacation at a seaside campground nestled under pine trees knew they had to move fast after Chile’s powerful earthquake struck.

THOUSANDS more troops were deployed across quake-hit Chile yesterday as residents took up arms to stop a wave of mass looting in the nation’s second city, slapped with an 18-hour curfew.

More horrific stories of the devastation caused by Chile’s earthquake emerged today as beach communities counted the cost of a double tragedy.

DOZENS of looters were arrested yesterday as they scavenged among the wreckage of the massive Chilean earthquake that has killed at least 723 people.

Dozens of looters were arrested today as they scavenged among the wreckage of the massive Chilean earthquake that killed at least 700 people.

Heroism and banditry mingled on Chile’s shattered streets as rescuers braved aftershocks digging for survivors and the government sent soldiers and ordered a nighttime curfew to quell looting.

CHILE’S president sent the army to help police attack looters yesterday and appealed for international help in the wake of an earthquake that shattered cities and killed at least 708 people.

The death toll is expected to rise in Chile after the country was hit by one of the most devastating earthquakes in history, leaving 1.5 million Chileans affected and 500,000 homes severely damaged.

One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded tore apart houses, bridges and highways in central Chile and sent a tsunami racing halfway around the world.

President Obama has said the US is preparing for a tsunami that could reach American shores.

A devastating magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck Chile early today, shattering buildings and bridges, killing at least 122 people and setting off a tsunami that threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean – roughly a quarter of the globe.

Over fifty countries around the world are on tsunami alert, after an earthquake measuring 8.8 hit Chile.

A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake, capable of tremendous damage, struck southern Chile early today, shaking buildings in the capital, where some buildings collapsed.

Teenagers who ran along a Chilean beach claiming a giant tsunami was on its way are being blamed for the panic that sent thousands of people fleeing their homes in a chaotic stampede in the middle of the night.