Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announced on Sunday a national state of catastrophe for the two regions of Maule and Bio Bio to allow the Armed Forces' presence there.

The president also said a free delivery of food to the hard-hit areas of the magnitude-8.8 earthquake will be adopted. Altogether there are 2 million quake survivors in the two areas.

Extreme lack of food and water have also spurred lootings in the Concepcion, the hardest-hit city in the country.

Carrying two boxes of milk, a woman told a local TV channel that she was looking for food for her children. "We do not have anything, it is the need," she said.

On Sunday morning, local police used tear gas to disperse almost 1,000 people who were looting a supermarket.

The Chilean government will send to Concepcion a team of 40 fire fighters to continue rescue the people alive under the rubble.

(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2010)