More news from Earthquake city....

This is going to have to be short as I dont know how long the email will last....
We arrived here on Sat 27 Feb around 2am and had been in bed in our hotel about an 1 1/2 before the quake hit. D woke me shouting to get up there was an earthquake and I have never been so scared in my life! For once I did as I was told.... Trying to find clothes, everything in the room rattling, the floor going up and down and the room swaying from side to side. Plaster falling off the ceiling and the noise was unbelievable; car alarms going off outside, creaking and rattling and then the lights went out. By calling I found Doug and we cowered, naked, under the coffee table which with hindsight was pretty dim but not really thinking straight in those circumstances.... I still cant really tell you how scared I felt and we were totally disorientated as we had only been in this room for a very short time - couldnt find the door! After a couple of minutes the movement stopped and we made a dash for the door which luckily did open (some people later said their door frames had moved and they couldnt get their doors open. We were on the 4th floor, ran downstairs and out into the street - everyone in various states on undress, cold and probably in shock, all I wanted to do was cry. I wrote all this about an hour and a half after the initial quake sitting back in the lobby on the floor wrapped in a blanket. The after shocks were pretty strong and sent everyone scurrying back out into the street. Not sure if it was a good place to be as we were surrounded by high rise buildings! But we are alive, safe and well unlike so many other poor people not that far away. 8.8 is a very big quake and something we neither of us want to go through again. The hotel didn't suffer too much damage althought the 17th floor ceiling came down and that is where the pool was - dont want to think about what would have happenned if all that water had come down too!! Huge cracks in the receiption walls and stairwell and the front of the hotel signage was down in the street with us.
There was no news for ages, luckily Jane, Sheila and June sent what they knew via text which worked even when the phones, tv and email didn't - strange eh? Thank you, you have no idea how wonderful it was to have contact with someone who knows and cares about you in times of stress! xx
It is now Monday morning, and the email and tv are working so we have some news and we are ok but what we see from the outskirts of Santiago and Conception is awful
We have no idea when the airport will open, some are now saying Wednesday or Thursday but who knows. We will still try and get to Easter Island if we can but to be honest, anywhere out of Santiago will be fine. International flights not looking good at the moment.
So thats it for the moment. Keep trying to sleep but the slightest rattle or shake makes me leap out of bed into my clothes. Will try and catch up with the rest of my blogs and get some pictures through sometime; I may have a lot of time on my hands as there is nowhere much to go here.... Apart from all of the above, we have had a wonderful trip and Patagonia is a truly AWESOME place.
Thanks you for your emails and texts, keep em coming, love to you all
Annie and Doug
In case you are wondering, we were naked under the table with TED who I managed to grab ......