SANTIAGO - FLAGS were lowered across Chile on Sunday, as the country began three days of mourning for the hundreds who died in last week's powerful earthquake and tsunami.

The national blue, red and white flag fluttered at half-mast from buildings across the country, including those standing among ruins created by last week's 8.8-quake, one of the strongest ever recorded, and the tsunami it spawned.

Religious ceremonies, some taking place in the open air, brought Chileans together to remember their dead - now officially estimated at 452 after officials revised down a first toll of 802 when some missing turned up alive.

The population of some 16.8 million showed a wave of solidarity alongside growing public and international aid efforts, and looters handed back stolen goods under threat of arrest. President Michelle Bachelet, who is due to hand over power to Sebastian Pinera on Thursday, visited a depot of returned goods, including mattresses, TV sets, and washing machines, in the coastal city of Concepcion.

'This looting has nothing to do with survival,' President Bachelet told journalists, estimating the total value of the objects to be almost US$2 million (S$2.8 million). President Bachelet promised to punish criminals, after riots and looting immediately after the quake provoked curfews and the deployment of some 14,000 soldiers - a move unprecedented since the 17-year dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet that ended in 1990.

Demolition and reconstruction efforts slowly began in the city and other badly-hit areas.