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At least 36 dead in Mexico’s strongest quake “since 1985”

An earthquake of magnitude 8.1 struck off the southern coast of Mexico late on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, shaking buildings as far away as Guatemala and sending people running into the streets in the capital.

UPDATE: 36 have been confirmed dead following reports coming from Chiapas authorities.

UPDATE: Authorities in Oaxaca region confirm 20 have lost their lives following the quake.

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Oaxaca governor Alejandro Murat said 17 of the 20 fatalities were in Juchitan, a town on Mexico’s Tehuantepec isthmus.

National authorities have said that 26 have been killed by Mexico’s strongest quake since 1985.

UPDATE: President confirms five deaths following the quake. He also told reporters that one million people were affected by a power outage but electricity connection has been reestablished for 800.000. Aftershocks are still expected, the president said.

UPDATE: Situation in Mexico complicated as authorities are expecting hurricane Katia to touch ground near Veracruz.

UPDATE: Initial estimates say that around one million people have been affected by the quake. Some coast areas have been evacuated, fearing tsunamis.

UPDATE: Some of the worst initial reports came from Juchitan in Oaxaca state, where sections of the town hall, a hotel, a bar and other buildings were reduced to rubble.

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Rescue workers labored through the night in badly affected areas to check for people trapped in collapsed buildings.

UPDATE: Classes have been suspended in several regions, the Education Ministry announced.

UPDATE: National Emergency in 122 towns in Chiapas region.

UPDATE: According to Mexican press, six people have died. The death of two children were reported in the town of Tabasco. One of them died in the hospital after the power outage stopped the medical devices that kept it alive. Another child died following the collapse of a wall.

UPDATE: Authorities confirm that five people lost their lives. According to local press, two of the victims are children.

UPDATE: The earthquake had a magnitude of 8.1, according to Mexican authorities.

UPDATE: Tsunami confirmed in Mexico. Largest wave has 0.7 meters.

UPDATE: Interior Minister announced that two people died in the Mexican state of Chiapas.

Mexico’s civil protection agency said it was the strongest earthquake to hit the capital since a devastating 1985 tremor that flattened swathes of Mexico City and killed thousands.

There were no immediate reports of major damage but windows were broken at the airport and power went out in several major neighbourhoods of the capital. The cornice of a hotel collapsed in the southern tourist city of Oaxaca, a witness said.

People in the capital, one of the world’s largest cities, ran out into the streets in pyjamas and alarms sounded after the quake struck just before midnight, a Reuters witness said.

Helicopters hovered overhead a few minutes later, apparently looking for damage to buildings in the city built on a spongy, drained lake bed.

In one central neighbourhood, dozens of people stood outside after the quake, some wrapped in blankets against the cool night air. Children were crying.

Liliana Villa, 35, was in her apartment when the earthquake struck and she fled to the street in her pyjamas.

“It felt horrible, and I thought, ‘this is going to fall’.”

The epicentre was 123 km (76 miles) southwest of the town of Pijijiapan, at a revised depth of 43 miles. Widespread, hazardous tsunami waves were possible within three hours, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.

USGS reported several aftershocks, all greater than 5 magnitude.

State oil company Pemex said it was still checking for damage at its installations, which include the Salina Cruz refinery in the same region as the epicentre.

“I had never been anywhere where the earth moved so much. At first I laughed, but when the lights went out I didn’t know what to do,” said Luis Carlos Briceno, an architect, 31, who was visiting Mexico City. “I nearly fell over.”

Reuters

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