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Magnitude-7.8 quake rocks Mexico, no fatalities reported
Source: Xinhua |
March 21, 2012, Wednesday
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Online Edition
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A powerful earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale rocked Mexico yesterday, injuring at least seven people and sending thousands of panicked citizens into the streets in the capital city.
The quake, which struck at 12:02 local time (1802 GMT) close to the town of Ometepec on the border between the southern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca and its epicenter was located some 193 km east of the famous Mexican tourist resort of Acapulco on the Pacific coast, also destroyed some 500 houses in the two states.
Mexico's National Seismological Service said at least seven after-shocks were registered, including four that were between magnitude 5.1 and 5.3, but there were no reports of fatalities.
"This was very scary but so far we have fortunately not had to regret the loss of human life or reports of any major damage," Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in a message posted on his social network account Twitter.
In Mexico City, buildings in the popular central neighborhood of Condesa shook for several minutes and pictures and artifacts hanging on walls crashed down while windows broke.
"This was terrifying, it was without doubt the strongest earthquake I have ever experienced here," a terrified resident told Xinhua on the street after running out from a building.
Footage on local television showed part of a bridge collapsed on top of a truck, railway tracks broke apart and lots of debris and broken glass covered streets and areas in front of buildings across central parts of the capital.
To most Mexicans, yesterday's tremor reminded them of the terrifying 8.1-magnitude quake which hit Mexico City in 1985 and killed as many as 10,000people and left some 300,000 homeless.
"This was just like 1985, it was terrifying. There was dust and smoke coming from below the ground, even the tallest of the buildings in Reforma Avenue were swaying wildly from side to side and windows were cracking around us," Maria Gonzalez, who said she was walking by the city's financial district next to the Mexican Stock Exchange when the quake happened, recounted the moment the quake struck.
Shortly after the tremor stopped, ambulance sirens could be heard across the Mexican capital.
As telephone networks crashed for several hours and power blackouts were reported from some parts of the city, Mexico City authorities closed down all public schools for the day as panicked parents rushed to check on their children's well-being.
But by the end of the afternoon, Mexico City residents were breathing a bit more easily, as the country appeared to have escaped one of the strongest earthquakes on record with miraculously little damage.
The quake, which struck at 12:02 local time (1802 GMT) close to the town of Ometepec on the border between the southern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca and its epicenter was located some 193 km east of the famous Mexican tourist resort of Acapulco on the Pacific coast, also destroyed some 500 houses in the two states.
Mexico's National Seismological Service said at least seven after-shocks were registered, including four that were between magnitude 5.1 and 5.3, but there were no reports of fatalities.
"This was very scary but so far we have fortunately not had to regret the loss of human life or reports of any major damage," Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in a message posted on his social network account Twitter.
In Mexico City, buildings in the popular central neighborhood of Condesa shook for several minutes and pictures and artifacts hanging on walls crashed down while windows broke.
"This was terrifying, it was without doubt the strongest earthquake I have ever experienced here," a terrified resident told Xinhua on the street after running out from a building.
Footage on local television showed part of a bridge collapsed on top of a truck, railway tracks broke apart and lots of debris and broken glass covered streets and areas in front of buildings across central parts of the capital.
To most Mexicans, yesterday's tremor reminded them of the terrifying 8.1-magnitude quake which hit Mexico City in 1985 and killed as many as 10,000people and left some 300,000 homeless.
"This was just like 1985, it was terrifying. There was dust and smoke coming from below the ground, even the tallest of the buildings in Reforma Avenue were swaying wildly from side to side and windows were cracking around us," Maria Gonzalez, who said she was walking by the city's financial district next to the Mexican Stock Exchange when the quake happened, recounted the moment the quake struck.
Shortly after the tremor stopped, ambulance sirens could be heard across the Mexican capital.
As telephone networks crashed for several hours and power blackouts were reported from some parts of the city, Mexico City authorities closed down all public schools for the day as panicked parents rushed to check on their children's well-being.
But by the end of the afternoon, Mexico City residents were breathing a bit more easily, as the country appeared to have escaped one of the strongest earthquakes on record with miraculously little damage.
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