MONROE - John and Tammie Wartenweiler, Monroe, spent several anxious hours Saturday waiting to hear from their daughter, Jessica, who is teaching and living in Chile.
The South American country was hit by an 8.8-magnitude quake early Saturday.
Jessica Wartenweiler, a 2002 Monroe High School graduate and a 2006 University of Wisconsin graduate, was in Valipariso, Chile, which is about an hour away from Concepcion, the largest city near the epicenter of the quake, Tammie Wartenweiler said.
She desperately tried to find out if Jessica was safe. Tammie Wartenweiler worried even though she had heard from some of the other American volunteers that Jessica was all right, but she hadn't heard from Jessica herself. It wasn't until Jessica contacted Tammie through the Internet that she could breathe a little easier.
"I was so relieved," she said. "We heard from her late Saturday night."
Jessica Wartenweiler had been in Chile since Jan. 9. as part of a group of volunteers who teach English to children in Santiago. She lives with a host family in the nation's capital.
Tammie said her daughter decided to visit Valipariso for the weekend.
When Jessica returned to Santiago, she was able to see the damage for herself.
"The place was a shambles," Tammie said her daughter told her. "It was a disaster."
Her teaching program may be on hold for a while. She planned to be in Chile until later this year. Jessica doesn't plan to return to the United States anytime soon, Tammie said.
"She wants to stay there and help with the clean-up," Tammie said.
According to the Associated Press, the death toll from the earthquake rose to 723 Monday, with another 19 people missing, according to the Associated Press.
Some coastal towns were almost obliterated - first shaken by the quake, then slammed by a tsunami that carried whole houses inland and crushed others into piles of sticks. Shocked survivors were left without power, water or food.
In Concepcion, Mayor Jacqueline van Rysselberghe told Radio Cooperativa that some food aid was arriving in the city of 200,000 Monday for distribution to the hungry.
Electricity was still out, however, water was scarce and looters re-emerged at dusk despite beefed up security. Dozens of people sacked stores selling food, clothing and drugs, fleeing when police appeared to drive them away. Some struck gas stations, stealing cash from attendants, the Associated Press reported.
Efforts to determine the full scope of destruction were undermined by an endless string of terrifying aftershocks that turned more buildings into rubble - and forced thousands to set up tents in parks and grassy highway medians.
The South American country was hit by an 8.8-magnitude quake early Saturday.
Jessica Wartenweiler, a 2002 Monroe High School graduate and a 2006 University of Wisconsin graduate, was in Valipariso, Chile, which is about an hour away from Concepcion, the largest city near the epicenter of the quake, Tammie Wartenweiler said.
She desperately tried to find out if Jessica was safe. Tammie Wartenweiler worried even though she had heard from some of the other American volunteers that Jessica was all right, but she hadn't heard from Jessica herself. It wasn't until Jessica contacted Tammie through the Internet that she could breathe a little easier.
"I was so relieved," she said. "We heard from her late Saturday night."
Jessica Wartenweiler had been in Chile since Jan. 9. as part of a group of volunteers who teach English to children in Santiago. She lives with a host family in the nation's capital.
Tammie said her daughter decided to visit Valipariso for the weekend.
When Jessica returned to Santiago, she was able to see the damage for herself.
"The place was a shambles," Tammie said her daughter told her. "It was a disaster."
Her teaching program may be on hold for a while. She planned to be in Chile until later this year. Jessica doesn't plan to return to the United States anytime soon, Tammie said.
"She wants to stay there and help with the clean-up," Tammie said.
According to the Associated Press, the death toll from the earthquake rose to 723 Monday, with another 19 people missing, according to the Associated Press.
Some coastal towns were almost obliterated - first shaken by the quake, then slammed by a tsunami that carried whole houses inland and crushed others into piles of sticks. Shocked survivors were left without power, water or food.
In Concepcion, Mayor Jacqueline van Rysselberghe told Radio Cooperativa that some food aid was arriving in the city of 200,000 Monday for distribution to the hungry.
Electricity was still out, however, water was scarce and looters re-emerged at dusk despite beefed up security. Dozens of people sacked stores selling food, clothing and drugs, fleeing when police appeared to drive them away. Some struck gas stations, stealing cash from attendants, the Associated Press reported.
Efforts to determine the full scope of destruction were undermined by an endless string of terrifying aftershocks that turned more buildings into rubble - and forced thousands to set up tents in parks and grassy highway medians.