For one Luther College student, the news of a severe earthquake in Chile strikes home

For one Luther College student, an 8.8 earthquake hitting Chile is not just headlines on the television. Luther senior Sara Zanussi went to school at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, one of oldest and most important universities in Chile, from December 29th, 2008 to July 26th, 2009, as part of a study abroad program.

Over the weekend she was sending e-mails to professors, students and citizens that she met while staying in Chile. Over 700 people have been killed by the earthquake and 2 million homes have been damaged. Zanussi says her acquaintances were lucky because Valparaiso was not as severely damaged as Santiago and areas between Santiago and Conception. The people who e-mailed her said they were without water, but the electricity had come back on.

But Sara is worried about the fates of some of the indigenous people she interviewed in Chile as part of a school project. She says there are quite a few people she hasn't heard from yet.

Zanussi enjoyed her time in Chile, where she studied a wide range of subjects, including the language and culture of Chile and the politics of Chile. She also sang in a female choir while at PUCV.

She says the Chilean people will do anything for you once they have gotten to know you and were constantly offering her food and making her feel welcome. That's why she continues to check Facebook and her e-mail account--waiting for word from the people she knows in Chile, waiting to see how they have been affected by one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded.