A Cottingham woman has told of her horror at being caught up in the devastating Chile earthquake.

Clare Castillo Newell, 27, who has moved to the country with her Chilean husband, was sleeping when the earthquake struck in the early hours of Saturday, February 27.

Hundreds of people were killed in the disaster, which measured 8.8 on the Richter scale – making it one of the worst earthquakes ever recorded.

Her parents Linda and Ernie Newell, who still live in Cottingham, faced an agonising 12-hour wait to hear from Clare.

She told the Mail the aftermath was "like a scene from a disaster movie".

Her home in Valparaiso, near Santiago, is hundreds of miles away from the epicentre near Concepion.

"At first, our flat started shaking violently," she said.

"The noise was incredible and the shaking got worse. The building crashed and slammed and creaked.

"It sounded like it was being repeatedly rammed by a lorry. I tried to stay under a door frame but I couldn't bear it.

"The sound was overwhelming and the walls were moving too much. I was afraid the building was going to fall down, so I grabbed my keys, which were hanging near the door, and fled down the stairs.

"Outside, I could see the buildings shaking and crashing, people shouting, and the sky was lit up with shocking white flashes from the electricity cables."

More than 130 aftershocks have shaken Chile since the earthquake, with 13 measuring more than 6.0 on the Richter scale.

However, Clare said the people of Chile have rallied to help each other following the disaster.

"The spirit of the Chilean people is impressive," she said.

"I am proud to be an honorary Chilean. The generosity and solidarity of the people here is impressive and they really are rallying around to help their most needy countrymen to pick up the pieces and learn how to live again.

"The affected people don't know when this new life of theirs will be able to begin: when they will have a house, a job, a hospital, water and a cupboard full of food.

"But Chileans are helping each other clear away the debris and pick themselves up again, as they have many times before."