Last month's 8.8-magnitude quake -- one of the strongest ever measured -- and the giant waves that followed left almost 500 confirmed dead, at least 260 missing and some two million homeless, as well as shattering towns and infrastructure and striking key industries such as fishing.

It complicates the transition of power for right-wing Pinera, whose presidential win ended 20 years of rule by a left-wing coalition, and who is now under pressure from a population eager to rebuild their nation.

"We won't be the government of the earthquake, we'll be the government of reconstruction," Pinera said recently, after naming five new governors in each of the worst-hit central regions.

Hopes for new, business-friendly policies from one of the country's richest men -- who owns one of Chile's four television networks, a football club, and a significant part of the flagship airline LAN Chile -- were overshadowed by the disaster.

After vowing austerity during his campaign, Pinera was expected to ramp up spending, borrow abroad and dip into savings after the February 27 quake.

The 60-year-old was initially expected to make deals in a split Congress in order to help with rebuilding.

Pinera not only faces the challenge of reconstruction -- which analysts estimate could cost up to 15 billion dollars -- but also takes over from a highly popular outgoing leader.

President Michelle Bachelet scored an 84 percent popularity rating in a post-quake survey, even amid criticism of a slow government reaction to the disaster.

Bachelet deployed around 14,000 troops -- the largest mobilization since Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship -- and imposed curfews to help maintain order in the tense aftermath of the quake and tsunamis.

The charismatic Bachelet, who was constitutionally-barred from seeking reelection this time around, has estimated it will take most of Pinera's four-year mandate to rebuild.

Her own popularity rose as she helped the nation ride out the financial crisis, after maintaining strict fiscal discipline during easier times.

Pinera, a self-proclaimed centrist, has promised that he will build on the policies practiced by his predecessor, rather than replace them.

He was expected to maintain a popular social welfare program and was unlikely to touch a government policy that made a savings fund using export revenues from the key copper mining industry.

Seen by some as cold, Pinera went to great efforts during his campaign to present a new image.

He deflected accusations of potential conflicts of interest between his political ambitions and his corporate empire, promising to sell the bulk of his LAN Chile shares before taking office.

Pinera also successfully put a distance between himself and Pinochet's dictatorship, which ended in 1990 and enjoyed the backing of several right-wing parties now behind the billionaire.

Although Chile's economy shrank two percent last year, its first contraction in a decade, it was forecast before the quake to grow between 4.5 and 5.5 percent this year.

Pinera had pledged to boost annual growth to six percent as the Latin American model of economic success emerged from the financial crisis, and to create one million jobs.

Now, job opportunities were expected to grow in the construction industry but the challenge of trying to reduce the country's massive rich-poor divide -- the largest in Latin America after Brazil -- was further complicated.

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