"An emergency without parallel"

The U.N has pledged its full support to Chile following last Saturday’s devastating earthquake. Chilean officials put the death count from the 8.8-magnitude quake at more than 700 and say 500,000 homes were damaged. (To give some perspective, the January earthquake in Haiti measured 7.0.) Chilean authorities made an official request for emergency aid from the UN on Monday. Meanwhile, President Michelle Bachelet has given the military control over security in both Concepcion and Maule; she also announced a 9 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew for non-emergency workers in those regions. According to Canadian foreign affairs workers, 254 Canadians living in Chile are still unaccounted for.

CBC News