Pinera sworn in as president of Chile

Sebastian Pinera has been sworn in as president of Chile, minutes after the country was hit by the largest aftershock since last month\'s devastating earthquake.



The 7.2-magnitude tremor was centred in O\'Higgins Region, 90 miles south of the city of Valparaiso, where the inauguration ceremony took place.



The National Congress building was evacuated shortly afterwards and a tsunami alert issued for coastal areas.



Mr Pinera\'s presidency ends two decades of left-wing rule in Chile.



He not only faces the challenge of reconstruction, but takes over from the highly-popular Michelle Bachelet, who was the country\'s first woman president.



Ms Bachelet left office with an 84 per cent popularity rating despite criticism of her government\'s response to the 8.8-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami, which left close to 500 people dead.