Chile's disaster management chief resigns

SANTIAGO, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Carmen Fernandez, the head of Chile's National Emergency Office (Onemi), submitted her resignation on Wednesday, amid fierce criticism of her performance in the aftermath of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit the country on Feb. 27, Chilean Interior Minister Edmundo Perez Yoma said.

Fernandez is the third senior official to step down as a result of the quake, and the second this week.

"Carmen was not obliged to leave. She is doing it to protect the institution due to the criticism it has faced," Perez said. " There are always criticisms in such situations. I believe that catastrophes like this would overwhelm any agency from anywhere in the world."

The Feb. 27 quake is Chile's second strongest on record. At least 529 people died in the disaster.

Earlier, Navy Capt. Mariano Rojas Bustos was removed from his post as head of the navy-run Oceanography and Hydrography Service (SHOA), which was accused of having failed to warn the public in time about a post-quake tsunami.

Meanwhile, Junior Interior Minister Patricio Rosende also resigned and was replaced by Rodrigo Ubilla, who was appointed by Sebastian Pinera, Chile's president-elect who will take office on Thursday.

The Chilean public and media also complained that the government was slow in sending in troops to maintain order in Concepcion, Chile's second largest city, and nearby regions, where mob looting was rampant after the quake. The army was deployed and a curfew imposed in the region four days after the temblor.