As of 6:00PM EST, there are no reports on the net of missionary casualties from the Chilean earthquake. Mission to the World (PCA) reminds everyone to pray for the National Presbyterian Church in Chile; they have many churches in the affected area.

Rescuers edged their way toward residents trapped in a toppled apartment block early Sunday and survivors huddled around bonfires in the rubble of their homes as the death toll in Chile continued to rise after one of the strongest earthquakes in history.

Authorities put the official death toll from Saturday’s 8.8-magnitude quake at 214, but said they believed the number would grow. They said 1.5 million Chileans were affected and 500,000 homes severely damaged by the mammoth temblor.

A tsunami caused by the quake that swept across the Pacific killed several people on a Chilean island but caused little damage in other countries. The tsunami warning was lifted a day after the earthquake.

President Michelle Bachelet, who leaves office March 11, declared a “state of catastrophe” in central Chile. “It was a catastrophe of devastating consequences,” she said.

Police said more than 100 people died in Concepcion, the largest city near the epicenter with more than 200,000 people. The university was among the buildings that caught fire around the city as gas and power lines snapped. Many streets were littered with rubble from edifices, inmates escaped from a nearby prison and police warned that criminals had been looting stores.