By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald

Two island-born sisters serving as missionaries in Chile survived the magnitude 8.8 earthquake that devastated the coastal city of Conception on Feb. 26 and are safe, according to their religious communities.

Maryknoll Sister Cecilia Santos works in the town of Coelemu about 30 miles north of Conception.

Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Marcelina Felipe serves in the town of Vilches, near Talca, a city 125 miles north of Conception.

Maryknoll Sister Sandra Galazin, regional communicator for her community in Hawaii, said she received word from Maryknoll headquarters in New York on March 1, that “everyone was safe” — the Maryknoll sisters, fathers and lay missioners. Sister Cecilia lives with one other Maryknoll sister in Coelemu.

Sister Margaret Leonard Perreira, head of the leadership team of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in Hawaii, said on March 1 that she heard from congregational headquarters in St. Louis on Feb. 27 that Sister Marcelina and two other sisters who live in Talca are safe, though there was some damage to the roof of their residences.

Sister Cecelia’s sibling, Sacred Hearts Sister Dorothy Santos of Honolulu told the Hawaii Catholic Herald on March 1 that she had been “trying and trying” all weekend to contact her sister without success. She said she had been assured by Maryknoll superiors that Sister Cecilia was OK, but had not heard from her directly.

Conception is Chile’s second largest city. News reports on March 1 said that large sections of the country remained without electricity and water.