Second powerful earthquake jolts Mexicans

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck western Mexico early yesterday, claiming the life of a woman in Mexico City who fell and hit her head as residents evacuated their homes during the country’s second major temblor this week.

The Mexico City government said the woman stumbled on the stairs of her home in the city’s central Doctores neighbourhood as quake alarms rang out and buildings began to shake.

The city also reported that a man in the south of the capital suffered a fatal heart attack after the quake. Elsewhere around the country, there were no immediate reports of serious damage, authorities said.

The quake, which the US Geological Survey (USGS) first measured at magnitude 7.0, was weaker and deeper than Monday’s temblor, striking at a depth of 20.7km.

In Mexico City’s Roma Sur neighbourhood, alarmed residents ran outdoors in night dresses and pyjamas, some wrapped only in blankets.

The epicentre of yesterday’s earthquake, which struck at about 1.16am local time, was logged in the state of Michoacan, not far from Monday’s temblor.

Mexico’s civil protection authorities and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said there were no initial reports of damage in Michoacan or the surrounding regions.

The US Tsunami Warning System said the latest quake did not pose a tsunami threat.