Santiago , Chile ( CNN ) -- 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 , 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 beautiful crack , '' he said as his camera panned to a pile of tile and plaster that had been shaken loose from the walls . Some in Chile reacted to the quake with disbelief . `` It was 3 or 4 in the morning and I had come home late , '' said Aneya Fernando , an American who teaches English in Santiago . `` Suddenly my bed was moving so violently that it woke me up . '' `` I 'm on the 10th floor of a building and it was swaying and shaking , '' Fernando , 23 , said . `` Suddenly it was just gone and I was confused . I thought it was in my head . '' When Fernando 's electricity returned 30 minutes later , she learned of the earthquake on TV . Scott Ireland , a business traveler from Rochester , New York , who was staying at the Sheraton San Cristobal when the earthquake struck , submitted iReport photos of cracks in the exterior walls of his hotel . Ireland , 48 , had experienced two earlier earthquakes -- one in Turkey in 1966 and another in Southern California in 1971 . `` Not only was this the most severe , '' he said , `` the duration was longer than anything I 'd ever experienced . Luckily the damage here was minimal . '' Meschler , the Iowa student , encountered faces of confusion and concern when he and his host family left their apartment building and entered the street . Some tried using their phones to call out with no luck , others ran to neighboring apartment complexes , looking to help . iReport : Watch video of damage at an apartment . Many throughout the city do n't have their basic utilities , the Salvation Army reported . Mescher does n't have gas , but his power and water are back on . The elderly seemed most frazzled by the rattling , he said . One elderly man had suffered a wound to his head . When the aftershocks began and kept rolling in jolts to his Santiago neighborhood , Mescher said some neighbors prepared for a night outside of their home . `` I did see a good portion of people go back upstairs an hour into it and put together what they could , '' he said , speaking of a sleep away bag . `` There were a lot of people that got their car and took off . '' Mescher had also tested his luck , considering he was unsure of the building 's stability after such a great temblor . `` After we were safely outside I made a quick run and grabbed a shirt and some shoes , '' he said . About 5 a.m. ( 3 a.m . ET ) -- about 90 minutes after the quake -- he returned to the apartment to finally get some rest , just to be rattled by another aftershock . According to the U.S. Geological Survey , a 6.9-magnitude aftershock hit Chile about that time . Dozens of aftershocks later , Mescher was looking at cracks that had shaped around the door frames and crept up walls . Chunks of plaster littered the floors , he said . `` I 've got to think there have to be some long-term structural issues , '' he said . `` For the time being , I do n't think it 's going to fall on top of me . ''
NEW : CNN iReporter says many houses destroyed in her Santiago neighborhood . NEW : Similar to previous reports said this one was strongest , most long - lasting . Luke Mescher , a young college student , was with his family in Chile when it hit .