Concern many still trapped under rubble

Hundreds dead and at least 44 buildings collapsed in the quake

A7.1-magnitude earthquake struck central Mexico, collapsing buildings and killing scores of people on the anniversary of a 1985 quake that devastated Mexico City.

Coming less than two weeks after a deadly temblor off the country’s Pacific coast, and just hours after a siren signalled an annual earthquake drill in the capital, the quake shook the ground with terrifying force, buckling walls and sending panicked residents fleeing into the streets. There were reports of fires and gas leaks.

Late last night the head of Mexico’s Civil Defence Agency, Luis Felipe Puente, said at least 217 people were reported to have been killed.

That included 86 in Mexico City, 71 in Morelos state, 43 in Puebla, 12 in the State of Mexico, four in Guerrero and one in Oaxaca.

Residents feared more people were buried under rubble. At least 44 buildings collapsed or partly collapsed in the quake, according to Mayor Miguel ngel Mancera.

Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto says 22 people have died at a school. He said in comments broadcast online by Financiero TV that 30 children and eight adults were still reported missing. Rescue workers were continuing to search and listening for sounds from the rubble.

In the central Mexico City neighbourhood of Del Valle, a frantic scene played out as hundreds of people gathered to search for trapped residents. At least two multistorey apartment buildings fell, and residents said dozens of people could have been inside. Marines, medical volunteers and regular citizens formed lines to pass rubbish bins, plastic crates, and plastic barrels to remove debris.

Rescue workers carried at least one person out on a stretcher while helicopters circled.

Victor Arrecha, 25, who lived nearby, said he feared that up to 40 people might have been trapped inside one of the buildings. “My friends lived there,” he said, looking at the pancaked apartment building directly in front of his house.

Elsewhere, dozens of people were rescued from collapsed buildings.

The US Geological Survey said the

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