NYC man visiting family in Colombia says he was "at the mercy of Mother Nature" during earthquake
Some New Yorkers are stuck in Colombia after Monday's 7.4-magnitude earthquake.
Murray Hill resident Eric Glasthal was at his grandmother's house in Carthargo when the quake struck.
"I wasn't sure if the building was going to collapse and whether or not I ... was just safer being underneath the door frame," he said.
He wasn't sure what to do next.
"Do I want to go outside? Which obviously isn't the safest place, but it was such a ... It felt like that hallway was so long that, and the earthquake was so aggressive that I really just wasn't sure what the right choice was," he said. "There felt like there was no right choice. Like, I was just at the mercy of Mother Nature at that point."
The home is not far from the epicenter of the quake. Nearby buildings that were not made of brick collapsed, including a restaurant and a school.
"My aunt is special needs and she attends a very small school. Half that school is collapsed, right?" Glasthal said. "So I think, you know, putting that all into perspective ... Fortunately, all my family is OK."
Glasthal says his instincts told him he needed to go out and help with rescues, but local travel was very difficult.
"The first thing that I wanted to do was go ... help cousins out, you know, go volunteer," he said. "But you can't because the roads are closed, so you just really just have to help as best you can from where I am."
Glasthal said he was scheduled to fly out from the city of Cali to Bogotá, then from Bogotá to Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Colombian community in Queens is doing its best to help the cause by collecting donations and medical supplies.
"A lot of people not only lost loved ones, but also their homes, and so this is going to be a process for them to recover and get back to normality," volunteer Diego Hernandez said.
