Like being on a boat

Jill and Jon Vogler's son Justin and his family live in Chile and below is an extract from a letter he sent his mum and dad after the Chilean earthquake

We all went to Pay's parents on Friday night to prepare for her sister's wedding. I was the cook and I spent all evening knocking out couscous salad and humus for 80. I was sleeping with Laura and woke up with the house shaking violently and Pay's mum, Elia, screaming at us to get the kids under the doorway. I grabbed Laura and held her under the doorframe. Pay was with Julian in the next room. Elia was chanting a Rosario loudly as the shaking increased. Then suddenly the movement changed to long pendulums as if the house was skating from side to side. I clung to the doorframe and told Laura, and Elia, not to worry, it was going to be alright. I don't know how convincing I sounded. Then it stopped. No light, no telephone, no internet, disconnected. Laura agreed that it had been exciting. "Like being on a boat," she said as we went back to sleep.

The wedding was a sad affair. The electricity came back at midday and we learnt of the scale of the thing. Eighteen people arrived in the end and we rattled around in the big white tent, awash with food, champagne and little capacity to celebrate or talk of anything but earthquakes.

I left Pay and the kids and drove home. The door was jammed and I climbed in through the window to meet with chaos. Rubble, books, CDs and cloths everywhere. Chairs and tables had literally walked across rooms and turned circle. Holes in the plaster and adobe everywhere but no apparent structural damage

Justin ended his letter by saying they were all fine.