DURHAM — Thousands of miles away from the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that rocked El Salvador recently, Triangle residents are trying to help that country.

The quake killed more than 600 people and forced 45,000 others from their homes. Here in North Carolina, Spanish-language radio station WECT is collecting food and clothing for the earthquake victims.

"We are getting a good response, especially yesterday when it rained and was cold," said Mario Hernandez. "And still people showed up to donate food and money and clothes."

Sunday, people brought their contributions to a North Raleigh park.

Organizers say there are about 5,000 families in the Triangle who immigrated from El Salvador.

Sandra Guzman moved to North Carolina 16 years ago, and still has family in El Salvador.

Her relatives were not injured, but they can not live in their house.

"The earth is still shaking," she said. "It's kind of scary, because the houses are not well situated. The walls have cracked, I feel good for my family, that everybody is fine. But at the same time, I feel so sad, because my people have lost their family."

Many boxes of food and clothing, along with others collected by local churches, will be loaded onto an American Red Cross truck and shipped to El Salvador. The much-needed donations should arrive in about a week.