Mexico's most powerful earthquake in a century has killed at least 61 people, destroyed homes and sent panicked families fleeing into the streets, according to officials.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported the magnitude of the earthquake that hit southern Mexico late on Thursday Sep 07,2017 as 8.1, but President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Friday it was 8.2, making it the largest in Mexico in 100 years.
He also said it was bigger than the one in 1985 when thousands were killed in four Mexican states.
The tremor's epicentre was 123km southwest of the town of Pijijiapan, at a depth of 70km, according to USGS.
"It was a large-scale earthquake," Pena Nieto said. "It had a bigger magnitude than the one Mexicans knew in 1985," when thousands were killed in four states in the country.
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.
Pena Nieto said that at least 45 people were killed in Oaxaca, 12 in Chiapas and four in Tabasco.
Officials also warned that the death toll could rise.
Alejandro Murat, governor of Oaxaca state, said 17 of those killed were in Juchitan.
"The situation is Juchitan is critical; this is the most terrible moment in its history," the town's mayor, Gloria Sanchez said.
Two children were also killed in Tabasco state. At least 250 people in Oaxaca were also injured, according to Agriculture Minister Jose Calzada.
Chiapas Governor Manuel Velasco said that 12 people were killed in San Cristobal, including two women who died when a house and a wall collapsed. At least 120 people were also injured.
Velasco called on people living near the coast to leave their houses as a protective measure.
"There is damage to hospitals that have lost energy," he said. "Homes, schools and hospitals have been damaged."
Pena Nieto said that serious damage had been caused and that one million people initially had been without power following the quake, but that electricity had been restored to 800,000 of them.
"The house moved like chewing gum, and the light and internet went out momentarily," said Rodrigo Soberanes, who lives near San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, a poor, largely indigenous state popular with tourists.
The civil defense in Chiapas said on its Twitter account that its personnel were in the streets aiding people and warned residents to prepare for aftershocks.
The 8.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico on Thursday is the most powerful to hit the country since 1985 when a quake measured at 8.1 killed around 10,000 people.
These are the world's most powerful earthquakes in the past 100 years and some of the most deadly. The magnitudes are provided by the US government's United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Most Powerful earthquakes that occurred in the past century across the world. |
- Chile, 1960: 9.5
The most powerful ever recorded, the quake hit Chile's coast in May, lasting about 10 minutes. Around 5,700 people are killed in Chile; the resulting tsunami leaves 130 dead in Japan and 61 in Hawaii.
- Alaska, 1964: 9.2
The largest earthquake recorded in the United States, it strikes the Prince William Sound area in March and unleashes a large tsunami but causes only around 123 deaths.
- Japan, 2011: 9.1
This quake triggers a devastating tsunami off northeastern Japan, leaving some 18,500 people dead and crippling the Fukushima nuclear power plant in the world's worst atomic disaster in 25 years
- Indonesia, 2004: 9.1
The earthquake strikes off the coast of Sumatra in December and unleashes a tsunami that kills 220,000 in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.
- Russia, 1952: 9.0
More than 2,300 people are killed when this quake hits Siberia's Kamchatka peninsula, causing a tsunami felt as far as Chile and Peru.
- Chile, 2010: 8.8
The quake is intense but kills only around 450 people, triggering tsunami warnings across the Pacific.
- China, 1976: 242,000 killed
A quake measured at 7.4 strikes near the industrial city of Tangshan in northeastern Hebei province. The official death toll is given as 242,000 but is believed to be significantly higher.
- China, 1920: up to 235,000 reported killed
This quake, measured at 8.3, hits the Haiyuan county of the northern province of Ningxia and causes aftershocks for several years.
- Haiti, 2010: more than 200,000 killed
A 7.0-quake hits in January, destroying thousands of buildings and leaving at least 200,000 people dead
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