By Moises Avila Roldan

CONCEPCION, Chile: Chilean President Michelle Bachelet defended Thursday her response to last weekend's earthquake after criticisms that have clouded the closing days of her otherwise successful administration.

Bachelet is under fire during her last week in office for her slow response to Saturday's massive 8.8 earthquake and the military has already admitted failing to provide adequate warning about the deadly tsunami that followed.

The president flew over the stricken areas in central Chile a few hours after the quake struck and deployed thousands of troops to help some two million people affected by the catastrophe.

But the troops came in stuttered deployments over several days and civilians in the badly hit second city of Concepcion had formed vigilante groups before the army got a grip on rampant looting and arson thanks to 18-hour curfews.

For many her arrival in the heart of the disaster zone more than five days after the quake was too late, and in the more remote villages families complained they had been ignored and were short of basic goods and medicines.

"There were no delays here," Bachelet said Thursday during a visit to Concepcion. "We were on the ground here just a few hours after the catastrophe struck," she told quake victims at a distribution center.

Residents in Concepcion and other nearby towns devastated by the quake and subsequent ocean surge have complained that little was done to prevent looting and unrest in the chaotic aftermath.

Bachelet earlier Thursday choked back tears while fielding criticism that her top officials had failed to issue a tsunami warning to coastal inhabitants after the massive quake.

"We are all generals after the battle," she told Radio Cooperativa, refusing to blame anyone for the communications breakdown that followed the temblor.

Military officials admitted Sunday they had made a mistake in failing to issue an early warning about the possibility of a tsunami, now known to have claimed most of the 800 people killed in the disaster.

A series of contradictory orders from the president, senior navy officers and the Office of National Emergency (ONEMI) in the hours after the earthquake meant a tsunami alert was not immediately raised.

The navy has acknowledged that the warning it sent to Bachelet lacked clarity.

Jittery officials caught in the middle of the debate raised a fresh tsunami alert Wednesday after two powerful new aftershocks struck coastal regions, panicking already traumatized residents.

The alert was dropped after about 20 minutes as a "false alarm," but by then hundreds of people had fled their homes on foot and in cars heading for higher ground.

Bachelet admitted that the catastrophe had hit her "very hard" in the final days before she hands over the task of reconstructing the shattered country to her successor, President-elect Sebastian Pinera.

Walking among volunteers preparing food rations for distribution, Bachelet condemned the widespread looting of supermarkets and stores earlier in the week and said in times of trouble people should put solidarity over survival.

"They're absolutely criminal acts. With the police and armed forces we've been able to restore law and order," she said.

Bachelet denied she had initially rejected international assistance, saying she had simply taken time to figure out "what was needed" so that Santiago airport wasn't swamped with unnecessary items.

Not all were unimpressed with her efforts. "As the mother of all Chileans, she has to be here with us," said Maria Gonzalez after greeting Bachelet at the relief camp.

Elsewhere in Concepcion, things were slowly getting back to normal. Some banks, gasoline stations and pharmacies were ready to open for business, albeit under strict military guard.

But in the coastal towns that bore the brunt of both the earthquake and the resulting tsunami, rescue operations had barely started and the marks of tragedy could be seen everywhere.

Around Talcahuano, seagulls perched atop roofs attracted by the smell of rotting fish hauled inland by the tsunami.

In other remote villages in the region, help was still an illusion.