CONCEPCION, Chile (BP) — Southern Baptists have released $50,000 for immediate relief needs in Chile, where the death toll has climbed past 700 in an earthquake disaster described by the country’s president as “without parallel in Chile’s history.”

Last week a Southern Baptist assessment team traveled to the country for dialogue with ministry partners about needs and on-the-ground evaluation of the damage caused by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck in the pre-dawn hours Feb. 27.

At least 700 people died in the quake and an estimated 500,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged. Some towns on Chile’s coastline were destroyed when a tsunami wave swept in after the quake.

More than 2 million people have been affected by the earthquake, Chile President Michelle Bachelet said. Rescue crews are searching for survivors in the rubble of toppled buildings.

“It was a terrifying experience,” said Phil Brown, a Southern Baptist missionary who lives in Santiago. “We were awakened by our bed shaking so hard it almost threw us out. We live in a second floor apartment but ran to our outdoor terrace, ready to jump if the building started coming apart, which we feared it would.

“After the longest 90 seconds of my life, the shaking stopped. We got outside as quickly as we could to huddle in the street with the other people in our building,” Brown added.

Donations for Chile may be directed to the Disaster Response Fund at imb.org. One hundred percent of each donation goes to meet human needs. Updated prayer requests can be viewed at imb.org/pray. Information also will be updated through Twitter at #QuakeResponse.