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Eduardo Castillo-Visani - Source: ONE News -
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Almost 24 hours after the devastating earthquake that has triggered global tsunami warnings, Chileans in New Zealand are still desperately trying to get hold of loved ones in the South American nation.
One of the world's most powerful earthquakes has pounded Chile, killing more than 300 people as it toppled buildings and triggered tsunamis that ravaged a port town and threatened Pacific coastlines.
Wellington resident Eduardo Castillo-Visani struggled to get hold of his family in his native Chile on Sunday.
"When you don't know about your loved ones it's hard, it's really hard," he says.
Castillo-Visani's greatest concern was the fate of his 67-year-old mother, who was visiting his sister in the coastal city of Valpariso.
"They are around 400km from the epicentre. Still, the earthquake there was around 7.5 (magnitude)."
Images of the destuction made waiting for news from his family even more unbearable for Castillo-Visani.
"It's quite sad to see your city, your country falling apart," he says.
However, the father of four received word late on Sunday afternoon that his family are alive and well.
His countryman and cycling guru, Jorge Sadoval, has not been so fortunate.
"I don't know how my parents are, how my mother is. And it's difficult because we are so far away," Sadoval says.
Born in the ill-fated city of Concepcion, Sadoval's cycling tour had to take a back seat on Sunday.
"I was only six-years-old when one of the biggest (earthquakes) in the world, in 1960, happened in the same city and I remember how it was and that's what I've got in my memory today," he says.
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