When the infamous Naples earthquake struck in 1980, it took agonizing days and sleepless nights to learn whether loved ones were alright.

These days, word of disaster and insightful updates only take moments to cross the globe if the observer has access to the Internet.

So it was that Mercy Sister Donna D’Alia had the where-with-all to keep friends and relatives in the diocese informed with near eye-witness accuracy of the terrible events that befell the lovely Abbruzzi region of Italy last week.

That’s just 70 miles away from Rome, where Sister Donna is studying this year. That’s far enough away, as it turned out, to keep her safe from any harm but close enough that the earth tremors actually shook her awake the night of the quake.

"Actually," she e-mailed, "I woke up in the middle of the night (3:36 p.m.) because my bed kept shaking for about a minute and I couldn’t figure out why since it didn’t seem as if anything else was moving."

In what she described as a "state of half sleep," Sister Donna, the former director of the diocesan Youth and Young Adult Ministry stated "the thought did occur to me that there could be an earthquake far away…" But without any visible indication that something was actually wrong in the religious house she’s staying in, she "turned out the light, went back to sleep," and in the morning wondered for a few moments if it had all been a dream.

She soon learned otherwise. "In the morning, everyone was talking about the scossa or tremor…someone checked on the Internet and found out that an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hit L’Aquila 70 miles away."

When the dust settled, it was clear that the powerful quake had knocked down whole blocks of buildings early April 6 – Monday of Holy Week – as people slept.

The deadliest quake since the one in 1980, by the end of the week, the death toll had reached nearly 300, tens of thousands were homeless and at least 1,500 were injured.

Some 10,000-15,000 buildings were either damaged or destroyed in L’Aquila and the surrounding towns.

The medieval, Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance buildings that are the treasure of the region were mostly down and the infrastructure was demolished. Utilities such as electric and water were damaged, Sister Donna said, beyond belief.

"Tonight, after the quake, we were just looking at the news. What you see is terrible. Buildings – big thick cement and stone buildings crumbled or collapsed. People stand around the rubble with cell phones hoping to find a loved one."

She pondered, "I guess you’ve heard that people are living in tent cities in a stadium. Where do you go if your home is crumbled? What do you do? How long will those people have to stay in those tents?"

During the Triduum, the images became even more poignant. "Last night I saw on the news that the fire department (in San Bernardino) went into the church rectory with a cherry picker to get some of the sacred vessels from inside.

"I also saw them remove a cross from the same Basilica di San Bernardino. In another basilica – Basilica di Santa Maria Collemaggio outside L’Aquila, they removed works of art before they bulldozed the building."

On Good Friday, the most distressing images of all flooded the screen. "They had permission to have the funeral and buried 250 of the 294 dead," Sister Donna reported. "They showed it on TV. It was absolutely heart wrenching to see all those caskets lined up."

Whole families perished, she noted. "The caskets of small children were placed on top of the caskets of their parents."

On Easter morning, televison viewers saw "Archbishop Molinari celebrating Mass in a tent. The people ate their Easter meals on paper plates. They did not feel like celebrating because they are having a difficult time."

It’s cold and rainy, now, she reports. Sounds like the weather that battered the Naples region further after the 1980 quake. People are wearing winter jackets, she said and huddling around portable heaters in the tents.

"They are asking on TV for money, of course. I’m sending the information below from the Italian version of Catholic Relief Services, (Caritas International). That’s all they are asking for at this point."

Sister Donna said she’d like to go to L’Aquila and help but there is no way right now. "The roads are so blocked I couldn’t get there if I wanted to."

The best she can do was to wire some money to the relief effort and send it out into cyberspace supported by prayer.

It’s easy to do, just go to caritas.org and click on the earthquake story that leads the news. Once you’re in the story, scroll down to make a donation and follow the directions.