Chileans using guns to defend themselves after earthquake

"The looting continued during the entire day, in the city and in the nearby urban centers. On the road to Chihuayante the situation on the streets was desolate -- all the supermarkets were pillaged. The brutal images of desolation -- in a super market totally looted by one of the mobs that operated here in Chihuayante. Practically there's not a supermarket that wasn't totally stripped bare. They are even taking building materials, parts of the shop windows. . . . After a night of terror, in some sections of Concepcion a night punctuated by rumors and a collective psychosis throughout all classes of society, many opted for defending themselves, confronted by what they called the advance of the hordes. . . . These scenes give account of the violence experienced by the people in the vicinity of Marina del Sol, in the residential area of Concepcion, when a self-defense group of neighbors detained several young men who apparently were getting ready to rob several houses." In many stories, people realized that the authorities were too overwhelmed to help.