Aftershocks Rock Chile; Toll Now 124

SANTIAGO, Chile —  Thousands of people camped in debris-strewn streets today, driven from their homes by aftershocks of a major earthquake that killed at least 124 people and injured 2,000 in central Chile. Authorities imposed a curfew to stop looting.

Officials said they expect the death toll to rise as communications are restored and reports come in from outlying cities and towns.

In a nationwide radio and television address, President Augusto Pinochet said he had formed a special committee to coordinate relief work and restore basic services.

He called on Chileans to “remain calm as you have done in the last difficult hours, and to show solidarity to your brothers who have been hit by tragedy.”

10 Killed at Church

Authorities said the hardest-hit areas outside Santiago were Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, coastal cities in this narrow country that stretches 2,600 miles along South America’s western shore. The three cities have a combined population of about 6 million.

The quake crumbled the front section of a church in San Bernardo, just outside the capital, killing 10 people who were attending Sunday evening Mass. It knocked down walls, cut communications and swayed skyscrapers in Santiago and other cities in an 800-mile stretch.

Deaths also were reported in the cities of Rancagua and San Antonio.

The quake struck at 7:47 p.m. Sunday, and the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., said it measured 7.4 on the Richter scale. Within six hours, Santiago residents had felt about 48 aftershocks, some strong enough to rock tall buildings. Milder tremors continued today.

Felt in Argentina

The quake was felt in Argentina, across the Andes Mountains, particularly in the foothill cities of Mendoza, San Juan and Tucuman, but no casualties or major damage was reported there. Some residents of high-rise buildings in Buenos Aires, 600 miles east of the Chilean border, reported slight movement.

The Chilean government imposed a midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew in much of the earthquake zone to prevent looting, which was reported overnight in some heavily damaged commercial districts.

Capt. Miguel Angel Payet said in Lima that he landed his Aeroperu jet with 123 passengers aboard at the Santiago airport three minutes after the quake cut communications with the control tower.

“I thought it was strange that the runway lights were flickering and that the ground dust was so heavy, but I never thought it was an earthquake,” Payet said. He added that those aboard felt the aftershocks as he was parking the DC-8.