Santiago, Chile (CNN) -- Nervous residents in Chile's capital woke up Sunday morning to more aftershocks, a day after one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit the world in decades left large swaths of their city in ruins.
"I've been using my glass of water to verify it's not just in my mind," said Luke Mescher, an American college student in Santiago. "You can see the water wobbling back and forth every time that it happens."
The 8.8-magnitude quake struck before dawn Saturday, toppling thousands of houses, affecting 2 million people and dealing a serious blow to one of Latin America's most stable economies.
Authorities placed the preliminary death toll at more than 300, but the government is expected to update the casualty count at 12 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET).
"The number of victims could get higher," said President-Elect Sebastian Piñera, who will take office in March.
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On Sunday morning, fears of looting increased in some areas, including hard-hit Concepcion, located about 70 miles (115 kilometers) from Santiago in coastal central Chile.
Desperate residents scrounged for water and supplies inside empty and damaged supermarkets. On Sunday morning, authorities resorted to using tear gas and water cannons in some instances to disperse looters.
But there were not enough police to control all of the people seeking food and supplies from the stores. Some consumers were becoming desperate because supermarkets were closed, and there was no gasoline available.
The quake spawned a tsunami that raced around the world, but initial fears that it would be as devastating as the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean did not materialize.
of small waves without causing damage, said Gov. Linda Lingle.
In Japan, the first waves to come ashore were also small, but authorities still asked thousands of evacuated residents to stay away because a second and third round of waves could be stronger.
Japan 'cautious' as tsunami alert is canceled
Saturday's quake was 700 to 800 times stronger than the 7.0-magnitude quake that struck Haiti in January, leaving 212,000 people dead and more than a million homeless.
It also occurred at a greater depth -- 21.7 miles -- compared to the shallow 8.1-mile depth of the Haiti quake, which
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