Billionaire Pinera takes power as quakes jolt Chile

The continued rumbling has frayed nerves, particularly in hard hit Constitucion and Rancagua, shaken hard by Thursday's aftershocks.

After initial reports of significant damage on Thursday, emergency officials later said there were no reports of damages, injuries or fatalities.

"Now I'm nervous!" said Delfina Fuentes, 60, on a nearby hilltop on Thursday after abandoning her home in Constitucion, which was damaged by the February quake.

The handover of power from popular centre-leftist Michelle Bachelet was celebrated with an austere midday ceremony, toned down out of respect for the dead.

Pinera joins a small group of conservative leaders in Latin America, where most presidents are leftists or centre-leftists. He is the first conservative leader in Chile after two decades of centre-left rule that has consolidated the country's status as the most developed country in Latin America.

Bachelet, a paediatrician-turned-politician, left office with a record 84 percent approval rating even after criticism of delays in government aid for victims.

Her government was also slammed for a faulty tsunami warning system, botched death toll estimates and hesitating to send in troops to quell violent looting.

(With reporting by Alonso Soto in Curanipe, Fabian Cambero in Valparaiso, Mica Rosenberg, Rodrigo Martinez and Simon Gardner in Santiago; Writing by Brian Rhoads; Editing by Fiona Ortiz and Kieran Murray)