Just hours after the earthquake hit Chile, Mark De Micoli and his family received an e-mail from his mother-in-law reassuring them she was safe and sound.

Together with his Argentinean wife, Maria, Mr De Micoli was anxiously waiting for news of his mother-in-law, Maria De Brey, who was at a hotel in Santiago, the capital of Chile, when the massive earthquake struck.

"Cracks appeared in the wall and there was water everywhere because the pipes had burst. People ran out into the street in their underwear. The earthquake was very strong and lasted for too long," Mrs De Brey said.

The epicentre of the destructive 8.8-magnitude earthquake, which took place at 3.30 a.m. on Saturday, was located in Maule, 325 kilometres southeast of Santiago, but houses in the historic centre of the capital were damaged.

Dressing quickly, Mrs De Brey grabbed her laptop and documents and ran out of the hotel from the main entrance as other guests were using the fire escape.

Although most of the phone lines were dead, she managed to find a wi-fi connection and quickly sent an e-mail to her family in Malta reassuring them that she was fine.

"She was really lucky. She was staying in Santiago by sheer coincidence," Mr De Micoli said.

Mrs De Brey was travelling from Washington to Buenos Aires. During a brief stop-over in Santiago, repairs had to be made to the plane because technicians found a bird caught up the engine. The passengers had to spend the night in a hotel.

After the first tremor, some of the hotel guests slept outside in the garden. But, although a few minor tremors were still being felt, Mrs De Bray took the risk and slept in her room.

She is hoping to continue her journey to Buenos Aires as soon as possible - either by bus or by plane. However, this all depended on repairs work to the runway, which was badly damaged by the earthquake.

Mrs De Brey said she preferred waiting for the airport to open again rather than travel by road.

So far, there are no reports of any Maltese among the rising number of injured people. A group of eight Maltese were visiting a winery in Pucon, 780 kilometres south of Santiago, when they felt a few tremors but did not witness the scenes of destruction in the capital.

"There are no buildings collapsing around us. We are all together and all OK. Our families should not worry," Simon Said, from the group, told The Sunday Times.

Another Maltese man, had returned home on Thursday, missing the earthquake altogether.