Mexico Earthquake: Thousands of Homes Wrecked, Death Toll at 91
Local Editor
A massive earthquake off southern Mexico Thursday night that killed at least 91 people damaged tens of thousands of homes and afflicted upwards of two million people in the poorer south, state officials said, as more details of the disaster emerged.
The 8.1 magnitude quake off the coast of Chiapas state was stronger than a 1985 temblor that flattened swaths of Mexico City and killed thousands. However, its greater depth and distance helped save the capital from more serious damage.
Saturday, authorities in the southern state of Oaxaca said there were 71 confirmed fatalities there, many of them in the town of Juchitan, where the rush to bury victims crowded a local cemetery at the weekend.
Another death was confirmed in neighboring Chiapas late Sunday, bringing the total there to 16, a spokesman for local emergency services said. A further four deaths have also been registered in Tabasco state to the north.
Television footage from parts of Oaxaca showed small homes and buildings completely leveled by the quake, which struck the narrowest portion of Mexico on the isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Aftershocks continued into Sunday, 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.
Following the tragedy, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto declared three days of national mourning and pledged to rebuild shattered towns and villages.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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