Chicago students from St. Ignatius Prep survive massive Taiwan earthquake in Hualien City

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A group of 20 Chicago students from St. Ignatius College Prep survived the massive 7.4 earthquake in Taiwan.

"As scary as it is I feel so lucky and grateful," said Leona Bergin.

Bergin spoke with ABC7 from Taiwan where she and her 19 classmates are on a cultural immersion trip. At the time, the high school senior was having breakfast at their hotel in Hualien City, the epicenter of the quake.

"The whole place just started shaking and I thought it was a train at first going by, then people around me started yelling earthquake," she recalled. "I just heard all the plates crashing, I saw glass in front of me."

The travel group and other people in the hotel were immediately evacuated from the building and ended up in the parking lot, where they got their first good look at the aftermath. It shocked them all.

"It was just unbelievable, it felt completely not real," Bergin said.

READ MORE: At least 9 dead, over 1,000 injured in Taiwan earthquake

You have probably seen pictures of the group's hotel without realizing it; it is the white building next to a large red brick and glass building that is now leaning at a steep angle in the aftermath of the earthquake, which authorities are working to keep propped up to prevent it from collapsing.

"It was really hard to believe that first of all that it happened and then to see right in front of you the effects that you usually only see in pictures," Bergin said.

Her father, Ryan Bergin, is the director of publications at St. Ignatius. He said this happened to be the one day the group was staying in Hualien City.

"The trip started off up in Taipei but just the day before the earthquake they had taken the train down to right where the epicenter of the earthquake was," he said.

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The earthquake has injured more than 1,000 people and nine people have died. It struck just before 8 a.m. and was centered off the coast of rural, mountainous Hualien County, where some buildings leaned at severe angles, their ground floors crushed. In the hours after the quake, TV showed neighbors and rescue workers lifting residents, including a toddler, through windows and onto the street. Some doors had fused shut in the shaking.

The director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago detailed the rescue efforts on the ground.

"Our government responded very quickly," said Dennis Yen-Feng Lei. "A thousand people involved in the rescue and also 12 aircrafts."

Lei said the global response so far has been overwhelming.

"We enjoy very much the strong support and the friendship from all over the world," he said.

Thankfully, no one traveling with St. Ignatius was injured. Bergin said the group has since moved to the western side of the island, away from the majority of the damage.

"I just hope anyone who was affected by anything is helped and we're praying for them," she said.

For more information on how to donate to relief efforts on the ground, visit the donating account of the Hualien County Major Disaster Social Assistance Fund by clicking here. Please note, this website is in Chinese.

If you would like to express concern and solidarity with victims of the earthquake or the people of Taiwan, you can contact the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago at chi@mofa.gov.tw.