Strong aftershocks from a powerful earthquake hit northern Chile on Thursday as the government erected a working military hospital and promised hundreds of other portable dwellings for 15,000 left homeless by the quake.

Government and army workers scrambled to distribute tons of food, water and medicine after the 7.7 magnitude quake struck near the desert village of Quillagua in the foothills of the Andes on Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring more than 150.

reports of further damage or injuries.

The earthquake destroyed or damaged 4,000 houses and the local hospital, blocking roads, crushing cars and knocking out power across northern Chile, officials said.