Nail-biting wait for news from quake zone

New Zealanders with relatives in Chile faced an anxious wait for news of their loved ones after the huge earthquake in the South American country disrupted communications.

Shirley Kurylo, of Silverdale, north of Auckland, was out when her 15-year-old daughter, Stacey, phoned from Chile yesterday morning.

"She's all right," said Ms Kurylo. "I was quite nervous until we heard from her. I was trying all ways to get hold of her. I couldn't get through and the international operator couldn't get through because the lines were jammed.

"Everyone has been texting me to find out how she is."

A Year 11 pupil at Orewa College, Stacey is in Curacavi, about 50km west of the capital, Santiago, on a student exchange programme.

Ms Kurylo said her son, Matthew, 13, took the call from Stacey. "We found out she's fine. We're just waiting for details now."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said this morning contact had been made with 140 New Zealanders in Chile to confirm they were safe.

The ministry was continuing to work to contact about another 100 New Zealanders to check on their whereabouts and wellbeing, but this was being hampered by communications difficulties in Chile.

Rafael Olmedo and his family in Wellington waited hours before they heard from his father, Rolando, who is visiting Santiago for eye surgery. Originally from Chile, they came to live in New Zealand in the mid-1970s after the Pinochet coup.

Mr Olmedo tried unsuccessfully to phone his father yesterday after waking to news of the earthquake. About lunchtime he received an email.

"We were very worried when we heard about the earthquake, and extremely relieved when we heard he was safe. We had lots of phone calls from friends wondering if he was safe."

Mr Olmedo said the earthquake woke his father, who was staying with a friend in a seven-storey apartment building, at 3.30am. It lasted about 90 seconds.

"It was hard to get out of the building in the dark because the electricity went out immediately. He spent five hours on the street after that because of aftershocks; even at 1pm the next day aftershocks occurred every 10 or 20 minutes.

"Phone lines were down, it was hard to communicate with family and the airport was closed because of damage and was expected to be closed for 72 hours."

Andrea de la Barra, of Auckland, whose family live in Santiago, said they had told her the quake was the scariest experience of their lives - "and in Chile we're used to earthquakes".

"They all live in apartments in the east part of the capital. Even though no one got hurt, all the pictures and paintings ended up on the floor, the same with all the shelves, all emptied. Some of the tiles on the bathroom and kitchen exploded with the movement."

Her family were too scared to scream; they prayed. "My little sister had a panic attack and ended up throwing up."

Tracking relatives:

* If concerned about a friend or relative in Chile, try to contact them.
* If this fails, call Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 0800 432 111, or 64 4 439 8401 from overseas.

Travel advice:

* Ministry advises against tourist and non-essential travel to Chile.
* New Zealanders in Chile and those about to go there are urged to register on safetravel.govt.nz.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade