, and ran barefoot and bare-chested into the dark street . The three met dozens others in the staircase scurrying out the 20-story apartment building , he said . The exit was `` surprisingly orderly , '' Mescher said . But others faced more of an ordeal . CNN iReporter Matias de Cristobal said the earthquake destroyed many homes in her Santiago neighborhood . Cristobal tried to climb upstairs to check on her three children -- age 6 , 9 , and 11 -- after she began feeling tremors on Saturday , but she was slowed by shifting ground and falling objects . Mirko Vukasovic , a 25-year-old illustrator in Santiago , had been dancing at a club early Saturday when the disco ball began swinging wildly . A chaotic evacuation was under way when the lights went out , but everyone managed to escape , Vukasovic said . `` Broken windows and falling building parts was what welcomed us in the streets , '' he said . iReport : Read Mescher 's firsthand account Vukasovic submitted iReport video showing the damage to his fourth-floor apartment . `` What used to be a beautiful bathroom is now torn , a
Santiago , Chile -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Sure , Luke Mescher felt a trembling fear when the walls around him started to shake Saturday , but standing around confused and scared was n't an option . `` I was more focused on we need to get out of here and we need to get out of here as fast as we can , '' said Mescher , a University of Iowa student studying Spanish in Chile . Mescher , 27 , was at the home of his host family when the 8.8-magnitude quake struck early Saturday . He was talking with friends on his computer when the power went out . Immediately after , he felt a subtle vibration that progressed into a violent shaking , he said . His host mom cried as the walls around them shook and her daughter attempted to comfort her , he said . `` They were `` paralyzed with fear , '' he said . `` I was like , we do n't have time for this , '' Mescher said . `` We need to get the hell out of here . '' He grabbed his head lamp , the two women