Toll tops 90, more tremors after Mexico quake
A clearer picture of the damage caused by a massive earthquake off the coast of southern Mexico is emerging, with at least 90 people dead and more than 2 million people affected.
The 8.1 magnitude quake off the coast of Chiapas state on Friday was stronger than a 1985 temblor that flattened swathes of Mexico City and killed thousands.
However, its greater depth and distance helped save the capital from more serious damage.
On Sunday, authorities in the southern state of Oaxaca said there were 71 confirmed fatalities there, many in the town of Juchitan, where the rush to bury victims had crowded a local cemetery.
Television footage from parts of Oaxaca showed small homes and buildings levelled by the quake, which struck the narrowest portion of Mexico on the isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Aftershocks continued into yesterday, and scores of people were wary about returning to fragile buildings hammered by the initial tremor, sleeping in gardens, patios and in the open air.
Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat told Mexican television the quake hit 41 municipalities and had probably affected around one in five of the state’s population of 4 million.
“We’re talking about more 800,000 people who potentially lost everything, and some their loved ones,” he said.
In Juchitan alone, more than 5000 homes were destroyed. Hundreds and thousands of Mexicans were temporarily left without electricity or water, and many in the south were evacuated from coastal dwellings when the quake sparked tsunami warnings.
At least 15 people died in neighbouring Chiapas, and its governor Manuel Velasco said some 41,000 houses were damaged, estimating nearly 1.5 million people were affected. A further four deaths were registered in Tabasco state to the north.
President Enrique Pena Nieto declared three days of national mourning, and pledged to rebuild shattered towns and villages.— Reuters