Supercooled liquids with soft-core potentials are studied via molecular dynamics simulations in two and three dimensions in quiescent and sheared conditions. We demonstrate that bond breakage events among particle pairs occur collectively in clusters. The average life time, τb(γ̇), of bonds tends to the α relaxation time, τα, for weak shear, γ̇ ≪ 1/τα, and decreases as 1/γ̇ for strong shear, γ̇ ≫ 1/τb. The structure factor, Sb(q), of the broken bonds may be fitted to the Ornstein-Zernike form. The correlation length, ζ, is uniquely expressed in terms of τb(γ̇) as ζ ∼ τb(γ̇)1/4 in two dimensions and ζ ∼ τb(γ̇)1/2 in three dimensions for any T and γ̇ in glassy states. The viscosity is of order τb(γ̇) for any γ̇, so the shear stress tends to a limiting stress for γ̇τα ≫ 1. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.