At least 5 dead as powerful quake jolts Southern Mexico

MEXICO CITY: A powerful earthquake centered near the southern Mexico resort of Huatulco killed at least five people, swayed buildings in Mexico City and sent thousands fleeing into the streets. Mexico President Andr s Manuel L pez Obrador said one person was killed and another injured in a building collapse in Huatulco, Oaxaca.

Otherwise he said reports were of minor damage from the magnitude 7.4 quake, including broken windows and collapsed walls.

Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat said a second person was killed in an apparent house collapse in the tiny mountain village of San Juan Ozolotepec, and said a third died in circumstances he did not explain. Federal civil defense authorities reported two more deaths: a worker at the staterun oil company, Pemex, fell to his death from a refinery structure, and a man died in the Oaxaca village of San Agustin Amatengo when a wall fell on him.

Pemex also said the quake caused a fire at its refinery in the Pacific coast city of Salina Cruz, relatively near the epicenter. It said one worker was injured and the flames were quickly extinguished. Churches, bridges and highways also suffered damage during the quake.

L pez Obrador said there had been more than 140 aftershocks, most of them small.

Seismic alarms sounded midmorning with enough warning for residents to exit buildings. Power was knocked out to some areas. Helicopters flew over downtown Mexico City and police patrols sounded their sirens. Groups of people still milled around in close proximity on streets and sidewalks in some neighbourhoods of the capital about an hour after the quake.