When Maite Zubia heard about this morning’s earthquake in Chile, she says her heart stopped.

The 8.8 magnitude quake struck offshore of Maule, Chile, only about 200 miles southwest of her hometown of Santiago, where Zubia lived until moving to Ann Arbor in 2004.

It was one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and plunging trucks into the fractured earth, the Associated Press reported. A tsunami threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean -- roughly a quarter of the globe.

The earthquake struck Chile at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. Eastern Standard Time). At least 214 people were killed, according to Interior Minister Edmundo Perez Yoma, and officials said about 1.5 million homes suffered at least some damage.

In Santiago, the capital of Chile, a car dangled from a collapsed overpass, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building's two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars whose alarms rang incessantly.

While most modern buildings survived, a bell tower collapsed on the Nuestra Senora de la Providencia church and several hospitals were evacuated due to damage.

Santiago's airport was closed, with smashed windows, partially collapsed ceilings and destroyed pedestrian walkways in the passenger terminals. The capital's subway was shut as well, and transportation was further limited because hundreds of buses were stuck behind a damaged bridge.

Zubia, an Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market regular who sells her Maitelate dulce de leche cookies, said she got the news from a friend who had sent her a Facebook message asking if her family was ok. She said she tried calling her family in Chile and panicked when she could not reach anyone.

“I freaked out,” she said. “I came to the market, because I was going crazy at home.”

Fortunately, via e-mail, Skype and Facebook, Zubia found out that her parents, in-laws, three sisters and more than 100 aunts, uncles and cousins were safe. She said the news made her cry again.

“It’s such a relief on the one hand, but you still have your whole country in your heart,” she said. “Everyone is wondering how their loved ones are.”

Zubia is no stranger to natural disaster. At age 8, she lived through Santiago’s 8.0-magnitude earthquake in 1985. She said she remembers having to sleep outside in the car with all seven members of her family.

“It was the safest place,” she said.

Now she said she plans to meet with other locals with ties to Chile to see what they can do to assist the country.

“Now we help,” she said. “I don’t know how, but we help.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach reporter Erica Hobbs at 734-623-2537 or at ericahobbs@annarbor.com.