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WORLD NEWS Saturday 9 September 2017

Death toll rises to 60 in powerful Mexico earthquake

destruction was still emerg- lan border with a magni- the 2011 Fukushima disas-
ing. Hundreds of buildings tude of 8.1 —equal to Mex- ter and the 2004 Sumatra
collapsed or were dam- ico’s strongest quake of the quake that spawned a
aged, power was cut at past century. It was slightly deadly tsunami.
least briefly to more than stronger than the 1985 The quake struck at 11:49
1.8 million people and au- quake, the U.S. Geological p.m. Thursday (12:49 a.m.
thorities closed schools Fri- Survey said. EDT; 4:49 a.m. GMT Friday).
day in at least 11 states to The epicenter was in a Its epicenter was 102 miles
check them for safety. seismic hotspot in the Pa- (165 kilometers) west of Ta-
The earthquake’s impact cific where one tectonic pachula in Chiapas, with
was blunted somewhat by plate dives under another. a depth of 43.3 miles (69.7
the fact that it was cen- These subduction zones kilometers), the USGS said.
tered 100 miles offshore. are responsible for produc- Dozens of strong after-
Soldiers remove debris from a partly collapsed municipal It hit off Chiapas’ Pacific ing some of the biggest shocks rattled the region in
building after an earthquake in Juchitan, Oaxaca state, Mexico, coast, near the Guatema- quakes in history, including the following hours.q
Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. One of the most powerful earthquakes
ever to strike Mexico has hit off its southern Pacific coast, killing
at least 32 people, toppling houses, government offices and
businesses.
(AP Photo/Luis Alberto Cruz)
By MARK STEVENSON Friday or early Saturday as
Associated Press a Category 2 storm that
MEXICO CITY (AP) — One could bring life-threatening
of the most powerful earth- floods.
quakes ever recorded in The head of Mexico’s civil
Mexico struck off the coun- defense agency confirmed
try’s southern coast, top- the deaths of 45 people in
pling hundreds of buildings the southern state of Oax-
and sending panicked aca. Another 12 people
people fleeing into the died in Chiapas and three
streets in the middle of the more in the Gulf coast state
night. of Tabasco.
At least 60 people were re- The worst-hit city appeared
ported dead. to be Juchitan, on the nar-
The quake that hit minutes row waist of Oaxaca known
before midnight Thurs- as the Isthmus. About half
day was strong enough to of the city hall collapsed in
cause buildings to sway a pile of rubble, and streets
violently in the capital city were littered with the debris
more than 650 miles (1,000 of ruined houses.
kilometers) away. Mexico’s capital escaped
As beds banged against major damage, but the
walls, people still wearing quake terrified sleeping
pajamas ran out of their residents, many of whom
homes and gathered in still remember the cata-
frightened groups. strophic 1985 earthquake
Rodrigo Soberanes, who that killed thousands and
lives near San Cristobal de devastated large parts of
las Casas in Chiapas, the the city.
state nearest the epicen- Families were jerked
ter, said his house “moved awake by the grating howl
like chewing gum.” of the capital’s seismic
The furious shaking cre- alarm. Some shouted as
ated a second national they dashed out of rock-
emergency for Mexican ing apartment buildings.
agencies already bracing Even the iconic Angel of
for Hurricane Katia on the Independence Monument
other side of the country. swayed as the quake’s
The system was expected waves rolled through the
to strike the Gulf coast in city’s soft soil.
the state of Veracruz late Elsewhere, the extent of