Aussie tells mum of quake survival

"MUM, it's Rachel. We're alive," said the frightened voice on the scratchy phone line.

The voice belonged to Australian aid worker Rachel Hoffman, who 12 hours earlier had clawed her way out of a collapsed three-storey apartment complex in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, with her husband Joel.

But they quickly realised that their ordeal was far from over - as they set out on a heart-breaking trek through the devastated, corpse-strewn city to the safety of the US embassy.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told Sky News that authorities hadnow safely accounted for 20 Australians in Haiti.

Rachel's mother, Bev Eagy, received the call at her home in Oregon about 0300 US west coast time (2000 AEDT).

It was the best call of her life.

Before the call Ms Eagy and her husband, Alan, had spent a harrowing 12 hours waiting to hear if Hoffman was alive.

"We had about a 45-second window of time to talk to Rachel, but that was basically all we needed to know she was alive," Mr Eagy, Rachel's stepfather, told AAP.

"It was wonderful."

Hoffman, 24, originally from Brisbane, was in the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti working with the Christian relief agency, the Mennonite Central Committee, when the 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck on Tuesday.

"They were in the home when the earthquake occurred," Mr Eagy said.

"They live in a three-storey concrete house and were on the top floor.

"It just crumbled around them and they went down with it.

"They had to claw their way and dig their way out.

"They finally got out and had to walk to the embassy."

The Eagys had a TV set on in their Oregon home, but the sound was on mute on Tuesday when news broke about the earthquake. The set was switched on to the Fox News channel and a headline read "Haitian Earthquake".

When they read the headline their hearts sank.

"It was a parent's worst nightmare," Mr Eagy said.

"We knew the earthquake had happened and it was in Port-au-Prince, but we had no way of getting hold of them or knowing if they were safe. It was nerve-wracking.

"We just saw the reports on TV.

"They just kept getting worse and worse so we were thrilled to hear Rachel's voice even though she was quite scared.

"It was a miracle they got out alive."

With reports of more than 100,000 deaths and transport routes destroyed, the Eagys are not sure when they will see Rachel and Joel.

The Port-Au-Prince airport was being used for aid shipments and search and rescue crews.

Rachel and Joel are staying at a Mennonite building spared by the earthquake.

"We don't know when they will be able to get out," Mr Eagy said.

"The organisation they work for is planning on getting them home. We are happy for that.

"We are also sad because there is so much loss of life and terrible stories coming out of there.

"I think if it was up to them they would want to stay there and help, but they are not really trained to do the work that needs to be done and the organisation wants to get them out.

"We just have to wait for them to get a plane ticket out of there."