Angry and frustrated voices ring out over Chile’s radio airwaves as people call in to report on looting in their towns. Periscope’s Fiona Scott reports from Santiago.

One woman calling from Talcahuano, in the Biobío region, said people were coming into the town’s centre by the busload to loot shops for whatever they could get their hands on.

People here in Santiago are saying that the disaster is bringing out the best and worst in the population. While some looters told El Mercurio they were ashamed of their actions, but doing it to help people in desperate need of food, others have been seen selling stolen televisions and computers on the side of the road.

While reports by The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal, among others, indicate 10,000 military troops were deployed to patrol Chile’s streets and shops, the callers into radio stations this afternoon said there were nowhere near enough troops around to maintain order. The same woman calling from Talcahuano claimed she could only see one small squadron on the ground in her town today.

As the death toll rises to 723, the Chilean population does not need a another reason to be afraid; however, looters armed with sticks and in some cases guns are causing terror amongst many in the affected areas, including Chile’s second largest city, Concepción.

For the first time in 20 years, a curfew has been set in two regions of Chile in an attempt to control the looting and violence.

People fear a social war if supplies do not reach the most needy soon: On a badly affected street in Santiago the words “Guerra Social”  have been graffitied across a derelict building. While it is difficult to confirm whether the graffiti is a direct reaction to the damage caused post-earthquake, the image itself is certainly a poignant reflection in its current context.

Guerra social/social war. Barrio Brasil, Santiago. Photocredit: Fiona Scott/Periscope Post

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