(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A massive earthquake in Taiwan has sent emergency crews scrambling to rescue people while a Deerfield woman and a group of Chicago high school students visiting there are safe.
Rescuers searched Thursday for missing people and worked to reach hundreds stranded when Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years sent boulders and mud tumbling down mountainsides, blocking roads. Ten people died and more than 1,000 were injured.
The earthquake sent Charlotte Thompson’s hotel room in Taipei shaking like a speedboat. She tells CBS 2 the jarring movements woke her up from a sound sleep.
"Other people started coming into the hallway, and I was yelling, 'Stay in the doorway!' as the building was shaking," said Thompson, "because we're up on the 13th floor - so very high up - and was rocking profusely."
She was left wondering why there was no alert to warn people. Meanwhile some students from St. Ignatius College Prep also in Taiwan are ok. The school shared on social media their tour group was at breakfast when the quake hit.
Two of the school’s Chinese teachers say they headed to the western part of the country after the quake closed major highways.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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