Six killed as 7.4 quake rocks south Mexico
A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck southern Mexico, killing six people, sending hundreds fleeing from their homes and forcing the closure of a major stateowned oil refinery.
Hundreds of aftershocks were reported in the hours after the tremor, which was felt in Mexico City, some 700km distant from the epicentre in Crucecita, in Oaxaca state.
“We had to leave because there is a risk that the market will collapse. We are hardly selling anything because of the pandemic and now if the market is closed we will have a worse time,” said Juana Martinez, 60, a flower-seller in Oaxaca city.
All the deaths occurred in Oaxaca, with the majority due to the collapse of buildings. A woman died near Crucecita, and five other people died in towns located within 150km of the epicentre, officials said.
The 7.4 quake struck at a depth of 23km, the US Geological Survey reported. An initial tsunami warning was later reversed.
There was no damage reported to “strategic infrastructure” including ports, airports, refineries and hydroelectric plants, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in video published on social media.
Mexican Oil said its refinery in Salina Cruz in Oaxaca had been shut down as a precaution after a fire broke out at the plant “that was immediately stifled”.
One of the dead from the earthquake was a worker at the refinery, who was killed after falling off a high structure.
Rescuers were battling to reach a remote area of the rugged state amid reports that 15 workers had become trapped while constructing a highway.
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