Minnesotan In Mexico City Recounts Earthquake Terror

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesotans caught in the middle of a deadly earthquake in Mexico are telling their stories as rescue workers continue to search for survivors.

The 7.1-magnitude quake took the lives of at least 200 people, and that number is expected to rise significantly.

Buildings all over Mexico City are in ruins and people are still trapped under them. Rescue crews remain committed to finding survivors.

Minnesota native Nicole Garelick moved to Mexico City just last month. She called the earthquake terrifying, but said she has also seen kindness and resilience of people.

Garelick was at home when the earthquake struck.

"I started to feel the apartment sway a little bit and then it started to sway a lot," Garelick said.

She ran to the doorway, and then made a move when the swaying stopped.

"Several things were falling in our building and then we ran outside," Garelick said.

She said there's external damage to her building, but older buildings in her neighborhood are far worse.

"My boyfriend did see two buildings fall as he was walking and he was pretty shaken up by it," Garelick said.

A ray of hope came Wednesday when crews rescued two children from a school where 25 had died, most of them children.

Searchers would raise their hand asking for silence throughout the day, in hopes of hearing survivors voices.

Garelick points to the determination and spirit of community.

"I'm really just overwhelmed by the kindness and the resilience of the Mexican people," Garelick said. "Mexicans are really focused on community and supporting one another and that's really what you can see today is just the resilience in the city and how everyone wants to help one another."

Garelick is staying with friends north of the city where there is less damage.

The earthquake struck on the anniversary of the 1985 quake in Mexico City that killed thousands.

The country's president has called for three days of official mourning for victims.