Mexico earthquake Live Updates: Debris from a collapsed wall sits in Oaxaca, Mexico, after an earthquake early Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. A massive 8-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of southern Mexico late Thursday night, causing buildings to sway violently and people to flee into the street in panic as far away as the capital city.(AP Photo/Luis Alberto Cruz)
The death toll in the earthquake that struck off the southern coast of Mexico late on Thursday has risen to 32. The 8.2 magnitude earthquake also triggered small tsunami waves and damaging some buildings. The quake was apparently stronger than a devastating 1985 tremor that flattened swathes of Mexico City and killed thousands, but initial reports of damage in the city were limited.
The governor of the southern state of Oaxaca said on Friday that 20 people were killed in that region. A number of buildings suffered severe damage in parts of southern Mexico. Some of the worst initial reports came from the town of 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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7:50 pm: Liliana Villa, 35, who was in her apartment when the quake struck, fled to the street in her nightclothes. “It felt horrible, and I thought, ‘this (building) is going to fall.'”
5:40 pm: The death toll in the earthquake has risen to 32.
03.00 pm: Authorities say residents in Puerto Madero in Chiapas evacuated as precaution due to tsunami alert.
2.50 pm: The Mexican interior ministry has given the latest quake a higher magnitude, of 8.4.
2.30 pm: Authorities in Mexico say that a hotel in Oaxaca has collapsed in the major earthquake that hit the country, but no one has been reported dead.
Mexico earthquake Live Updates: Patients and family members are seen outside the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) after an earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mexico late on Thursday, in Puebla. (Source: Reuters)
2.10 pm: Classes have been suspended in most of central and southern Mexico on Friday to allow authorities to review damage.
2.05 pm: Rescue workers worked through the night in badly affected areas to check for people trapped in collapsed buildings.
2.00 pm: Tsunami waves were measured off Mexico’s Pacific coast after the major earthquake. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says waves of 1 meter (3.3 feet) above the tide level were measured off Salina Cruz. Smaller tsunami waves were observed on the coast or measured by ocean gauges in several other places.
A policeman stands in front of a church whose towers were damaged by an 8.1-magnitude earthquake in San Cristobal de Las Casas, state of Chiapas, Mexico, early Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. One of the most powerful earthquakes ever to strike Mexico hit off its southern coast, killing at least 15 people, toppling houses and businesses and sending panicked people into the streets. (AP Photo/Moyses Zuniga)
1.50 pm: President of Mexico Enrique Pena Nieto confirmed that at least five people have died in the temblor. Reports suggest the number has gone up to six. Nieto also said major damage has been caused and that 1 million initially had been without power following the quake, but that electricity had been restored to 800,000 of them.
1.40 pm: Mexico’s president says that the magnitude of the earthquake that hit the country is 8.2, the biggest the country has seen in a century. He said that there have been 62 aftershocks and it’s possible one as strong as 7.2 could hit.
1.30 pm: 3 people were killed said Governor Manuel Velasquez. Two more people were killed in neighbouring Tabasco state, the state governor said.
1.20 pm: In Mexico, some buildings were severely damaged in the south of the country, including a hotel.
A volunteer carries blankets after an earthquake hit Mexico City, Mexico, September 8, 2017. (Source: Reuters)
1.15 pm: Windows were broken at Mexico City airport and power went out in several neighbourhoods of the capital. 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’,” she told Reuters.
1.10 pm: The quake triggered waves as high as 2.3 ft (0.7 m) in Mexico, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said. It said widespread, hazardous tsunami waves were possible within three hours. No forced evacuation was ordered, but residents were told to monitor emergency radio broadcasts.
1.00 pm: The epicentre was 54 miles (87 km) southwest of the town of Pijijiapan in the southern state of Chiapas, at a depth of 43 miles. USGS reported multiple aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 4.3 to 5.7
