30 seconds that felt like hours

Maltese nun Valerie Frendo awoke to the sound of a chandelier crashing to the floor as her home in L'Aquila, in Italy, shook during the earthquake that claimed the lives of more than 200 people on Monday.

Sr Frendo grabbed her mobile phone and ran outside together with four other lay sisters living in the same house.

Her brother-in-law, Joe Aquilina, said Sr Frendo had been taken to a nearby village and was now waiting to return to Malta.

"She is not even able to go back to the street, let alone the house, and could not take any of her belongings," he said, adding the family had wired her some money and were making arrangements to procure temporary travel documents for her.

The earthquake, which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, has devastated part of the Abruzzo region and left thousands homeless. There were no Maltese nationals among the dead.

Miriam Xuereb, who lived in the same block as Sr Frendo, grabbed a raincoat, a pair of pyjama trousers and her handbag before dashing outside as her apartment shook.

Speaking to The Times from her holiday apartment in Tortoreto, where she went after the quake, Mrs Xuereb said tremors had been hitting the area for the past three months. A relatively strong quake last week saw people run out of their homes, although it was nothing like the one that hit the area early on Monday morning.

"I had prepared my handbag near the front door together with a raincoat and a warm pair of pyjama trousers just in case another quake hits," Mrs Xuereb said. She took shelter in a doorway during the tremor.

"The ground shook for some 30 seconds but it felt like hours," she said. Her three sons and their families, who lived in the same block of apartments, also rushed outdoors.

She said that although their building had not been completely demolished, one wall collapsed and there were visible cracks, making it unsafe to go back inside.

Mrs Xuereb moved to Italy 47 years ago after she married an Italian, Fernando Trombetta, who passed away some years ago.

Another Maltese woman, Nathalie Cinque, her Italian husband and two sons - 20-year-old Simone and Adriano, who turns 23 today - were living in two cars after fleeing their home in L'Aquila before the quake hit. After the numerous tremors that shook the area over the past months, Mrs Cinque last week prepared bags with blankets and drinks, which they could grab easily if a big quake hit.

Her sister, Anna Borg, said the family felt a tremor just before 11 p.m. on Sunday, with a second an hour later shaking the bed, causing the lights to go out and sending books, plates and glasses crashing to the floor.

"They grabbed their bags, got into their two cars and left well before the big quake hit," Mrs Borg said.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said yesterday it had managed to contact the three Maltese known to live in L'Aquila. Another three Maltese used to live in the area but had since passed away.

Another two Maltese women living in nearby Chieti were also contacted and confirmed to be well. The authorities' attempts to contact Maltese living in the earthquake-hit area were made more difficult after the office of Maltese consul Luigi Lombardo was destroyed.

The ministry said no Maltese surnames appeared on the list of quake fatalities, which continued to grow yesterday. Media reports that 70 Maltese on a football training camp, including 35 children, had been evacuated from their hotel were denied by a ministry spokesman who said they were far from the affected area.

Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg thanked all the employees of the Maltese Embassy in Rome for their incessant work to assist citizens. The ministry was urging anyone knowing anything about Maltese living in the area to pass on such information on the hotline 2124 2191.

The Home Affairs Ministry has offered assistance to the Italian government through the Civil Protection Department's Humanitarian Aid Section. The CPD will be collecting items as soon as the Italian authorities indicate what is required.

Caritas Malta is also collecting money for the victims and Archbishop Paul Cremona and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech appealed for generosity.

Donations can be made to parish priests or directly at Caritas by cheque payable to Caritas Abruzzo Fund and sent to Caritas Malta, 5, Lion Street, Floriana FRN 1514. Donations can be deposited in these accounts: APS 2000079917-6, Bank of Valletta 4001809888-6 or HSBC 089021513051.