Death Toll in Chile Earthquake Passes 700

The death toll as a result of the massive earthquake in Chile has passed 700 people as reports of additional fatalities have come in from a coastal town that was hit by a post-quake tsunami, according to Reuters.

Earlier on Sunday, officials had put the death toll at 400 but state television reported that another 350 had died in the fishing port of Constitucion, about 220 miles west of the capital, Santiago.

President Michelle Bachelet said 2 million people had been displaced. The quake destroyed or damaged 1.5 million homes.

Many Chileans had spent the night outside even if their homes were still standing because of fear of aftershocks from the Saturday quake. The New York Times said there had been 60 aftershocks, one registering a magnitude of 6.1. The original quake had registered 8.8.

Hardest hit by the quake -- which the New York Times said tied for the world's fifth largest since 1900 -- was the city of Concepcion on Chile's southern coast where CNN reported a 15 story high-rise building had collapsed and dozens were feared to be trapped.

Police had to use tear gas and water cannons in Concepcion to disperse a crowd looting a supermarket, Reuters reported. "People have gone days without eating," Orlando Salazar said. "The only option is to come here and get stuff for ourselves."

CNN said that the country's major north-south highway was severed at multiple points. The airport in Santiago, the capitol, has been closed because of major damage to its terminal, but Reuters said it had started receiving international flights again on Sunday.

However, the fear that the quake would cause devastating tsunamis throughout the Pacific basin did not materialize, although some islands closer to the quake's epicenter were swamped.

Paul E.Simons, the U.S. ambassador to Chile, told the Times that the U.S. had offered aid, but Chile's government had not yet asked for assistance.

Bachelet on Saturday had canceled all public events for the next 72 hours sand said the the start of the school year, scheduled for Monday, would be delayed.

Speaking on CBS' Meet the Press, Pascale Bonnefoy, a reporter for "Global Post," an international news service, said "In Santiago, it's pretty much under control. I mean, there's the old section in Santiago center. There was housing damage. About 80 percent of the population here already has electricity...The metro is partially restored as of today but down south it's been disaster because the coastal line was completely wiped out. And we have to take into account this was the last weekend of summer vacation, so there were a lot of people at the beach during this weekend because work starts again tomorrow and school started this week. It's not going to anymore but it was going to."

"There are ships in the main plaza. There are containers from ports already next to residential areas. All the coast lines were completely wiped out and that's the most affected area. There are towns that are basically on the floor now. There's no local government functioning because there's nowhere to function from. So definitely it's Concepcion, Talcahuano, which was completely wiped out, which is a fishing port, and other smaller cities, they're completely on the floor."