Several network providers are offers free phone calls and text services to allow people to contact their friends and relatives in quake-hit Japan.

The first network provider to offer free phone calls & text message services was AT&T. Its customers can make long distance calls to Japan for free through the end of March. Customers will also not be charged for making text messages to Japan.

Speaking on the topic, Mark Collins from AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets said, “We want to help our customers connect with loved ones in Japan in anyway we can.”

Verizon is allowing its prepaid customers to make free calls, text and multimedia messages to Japan until 10th of April. Residential landline phones are rated at no cost per minute.

Time Warner, the digital landline service provider, has also announced that it would allow its digital phone customers to make calls to Japan for free until 15th of April.

On last Friday, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and a following tsunami hit Japan, causing widespread devastation and killing thousands of people. Technicians are struggling to tackle fire and radiations at the country’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as blasts at the reactors are still going on.