Image via Twitter
The death toll from an 8.1-magnitude earthquake that hit Mexico late Thursday night has reached 35, reports the Associated Press.
The quake struck off of Mexico’s southern coast minutes before midnight, “strong enough to cause buildings to sway violently in the capital city more than 650 miles (1,000 kilometers) away,” writes AP.
While the earthquake was felt as far as Mexico City, the nation’s capital did not suffer any major damage.
“The worst-hit city appeared to be Juchitan, on the narrow waist of Oaxaca known as the Isthmus,” AP reports. “About half of the city hall collapsed in a pile of rubble and streets were littered with the debris of ruined houses. Local officials said at least 17 of the 35 dead were in Juchitan.”
Mexico has declared a second state of emergency, as it braces for Hurricane Katia on the other side of the country, expected to strike the state of Veracruz early Saturday.
Image via Twitter
The quake was one of the most powerful earthquakes recorded in Mexico, the biggest in a century.
The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the earthquake at an 8.1, stronger than the 8.0 magnitude earthquake in 1985 that killed more than 10,000 people in Mexico City.
The government of Mexico recorded the earthquake having a magnitude of 8.2.
President Peña Nieto tweeted on Friday that so far there have been more than 260 aftershocks.
He urged citizens to pay attention to alerts for “a possible replication of the #sismo in the next 24 hours” and to check their homes for structural damage and gas leaks.
The regions of Chiapas and Oaxaca, where the city of Juchitan is located, were the hardest hit by the quake.
Mexico’s National Emergency Committee is assessing the damage.
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