CHILE: Frustration Grows Over Slow Earthquake Rebuilding In Concepcion.

NPR/ AUDIO: 4:29/ With Transcript/ ANNIE MURPHY/
   While the "milagro" of 33 miners trapped underground soaks-up the media attention, and adds to Prez. Pinera's popularity, areas devastated by  mammoth February earthquake are neglected.
MURPHY: "The city of Concepcion was one of the hardest hit by Februarys earthquake, and it doesn't look much different than it did six months ago. Many streets are still littered with debris. One high-rise apartment building still lies toppled on its side, another still stands, but just barely - the top third crushed like a cake."

CHILE: Symbolic 15-Story Apartment Damaged By Quake Is Torn Down.

AP Via GOOGLE News/  UPDATE/     In Concepcion, a relatively new but heavily damaged 15-story apartment building that had come to symbolize the massive earthquake was demolished after rescuers believed all but one of the missing residents had been recovered.

CHILE: Mammoth Quake's Tragic Results: At Least 700 Dead, 2 Million Displaced.

BLOOMBERG Summary with BBC /LATIMES UPDATES/    Chileans are only just beginning to comprehend the earthquake's devastation while still  being shaken by more than 100 aftershocks. Concepcion, the nation's second largest city and closest to the epicenter, is the hardest hit. Many autos are strewn about on roads blocked by telephone and power cables and a new quake-code 14-story apartment building collapsed. Major seaports are out of operation. Cellphone and internet service is spotty. But the airport in Santiago has reopened. Officials say public transport is returning to normal. One metro line in Santiago is operating. Roads are also passable there. Looting has broken out in the most heavily damaged areas, where residents lack water and electricity. Crowds broke into supermarkets in Concepcion making off with food, water and diapers but also television sets. Several banks were also looted. Police in armored vehicles sprayed looters with water cannons and made several arrests, mostly young men.  The initial cost estimate is shocking -- one casuality expert estimates total damage at between $15 and $30 Billion USD -- 10-20% of GDP.

CHILE: Massive 8.8 Earthquake Strikes In Early AM; Hundreds Dead.

BLOOMBERG/   President Michelle Bachelet has declared a "state of catastrophe" and appealed for calm after an earthquake struck at 0634 GMT, 70 miles NE of Concepcion and 200 miles SW of Santiago. It is the biggest quake to hit Chile in 50 years and one of the biggest temblors anywhere in more than 100 years. It unleashed a tsunami that roared across the Pacific at 550 miles per hour -- the speed of a jet plane. Since 1973, the USGS reports that there have been 13 seismic events of 7.0 or greater in Chile. President-elect Sebastian Pinera told reporters that “this earthquake is a massive blow to Chilean society."