Mexico earthquake: Scores dead after massive quake
September 8, 2017
At least 61 people have died after one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit Mexico was followed by Hurricane Katia, which roared onshore in the Gulf. The president has declared three days of national mourning.
Image: Reuters/E. Garrido
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Powerful earthquake strikes Mexico
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Rescue workers were struggling to cope with two natural disasters after the earthquake off the southern coast was followed by Hurricane Katia hitting the coast north of Tecolutla in Veracruz state overnight into Saturday. The US National Hurricane Center reported Katia's maximum sustained winds had dropped to 75 mph (120 kph) when it made landfall and then weakened as it moved over land, becoming a tropical depression before dawn.
The center said that Katia was stalling over Mexico's Sierra Madre mountains, where it could bring 10 to 15 inches (25 to 37 centimeters) of rain to a region with a history of deadly mudslides and flooding.
After the earthquake on the other coastline, Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto said 45 people were killed in Oaxaca, 12 in Chiapas and four in Tabasco. The death toll is likely to rise from the 8.2 magnitude earthquake, which struck off Mexico's southern Pacific coast late on Thursday, officials said.
The earthquake has been described as one of the strongest felt by Mexico in nearly a centuryImage: picture-alliance/dpa/L.A.Cruz
Pena Nieto on Friday visited Juchitan in Oaxaca, one of the worst hit cities, where at least 36 people were killed.
"The priority in Juchitan is to restore water and food supplies and provide medical attention to those affected," Pena Nieto tweeted after visiting the devastated town. Authorities have handed out ration packs, blankets and other supplies to people left homeless in the town of 100,000 people.
When Mother Nature gets angry, really angry
On average, some 10,000 people die in earthquakes around the world annually. The temblors have often provoked tsunamis and wider devastation. DW takes a look at some of the most powerful earthquakes of the last century.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Barret
Most powerful earthquake ever recorded
The most powerful earthquake ever recorded hit Chile's coast in May 1960. The quake, 9.5 on the Richter scale, lasted almost 10 minutes, resulting in massive infrastructure damage. Around 5,700 people were killed in Chile while the resulting tsunami left 130 people dead in Japan and another 61 in Hawaii. This picture shows the remains of Corral harbor in Chile's Valdivia province.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
Good Friday earthquake
The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, remains the strongest earthquake to hit the US to date. It occured on Good Friday, March 27, across south-central Alaska. The quake and the following tsunamis caused about 139 deaths. The picture above is from a small fishing village on Kodiak Island and it shows debris from houses and boats.
Image: Getty Images/Central Press
Most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan
A team member from Japan's Rescue Dog Association and his dog search for victims. Northeastern Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake, measuring 9.1 on the moment magnitude scale, followed by a massive tsunami. The natural disasters claimed almost 18,500 lives, and crippled the Fukushima nuclear power plant, in what is considered the world's worst nuclear power disaster since Chernobyl.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/Y. Chiba
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The undersea megathrust earthquake, magnitude 9.1, triggered a series of devastating tsunamis, killing some 280,000 people in 14 different countries and inundating coastal communities with waves up to a 100 feet. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.
Image: Getty Images/P.M. Bonafede/U.S. Navy
Kamchatka earthquake
A megathrust earthquake occurred off the coast of Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia on November 4, 1952. The 9.0 magnitude quake caused a tsunami leading to widespread destruction and loss of life around the Kamchatka peninsula and the Kuril Islands. More than 2,300 people were killed.
2010 Chile earthquake
An 8.8 magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of central Chile in February 2010. It triggered a tsunami which devastated several coastal towns in south-central Chile and damaged the port at Talcahuano. The quake and the following tsunami resulted in the deaths of around 450 people, while damage to the local fisheries' business was estimated at 66.7 million US dollars.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Bernetti
China 1976 quake
An abandoned railway coach in Tangshan, China after an earthquake devastated the industrial town on July 28, 1976. The quake, measured at 7.4, struck near the industrial city in northeastern Hebei province. The official death toll is given as 242,000 but is believed to be significantly higher. Some estimates put the deathtoll at around 500,000.
Image: Getty Images/Keystone/Hulton Archive
1920 Haiyuan earthquake
The earthquake, measured at 8.3, occurred in the Haiyuan county of the northern province of Ningxia and caused aftershocks for almost three years. As a result, up to 235,000 people died immediately. Many more, who were living in camps due to the continuing aftershocks, perished later due to severe winter conditions.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
2010 Haiti earthquake
A man walks amid the rubble of a destroyed building in Port-au-Prince following the devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti on January 12, 2010. With a magnitude of 7.0, the quake destroyed thousands of buildings and left at least 200,000 people dead.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Barret
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Southern border offshore
The quake's epicenter was about 123 km (76 miles) south of the town of Pijijiapan in Chiapas, but the shock was felt over 900 kilometers north of the epicenter, in the capital, Mexico City, knocking out electricity and sending residents fleeing swaying buildings.
The Interior Department reported that 428 homes had been completely destroyed and a further 1,700 homes were damaged in Chiapas alone.
The quake was also felt in much of Guatemala, which borders Chiapas, Mexico's southernmost state.
The temblor occurred in a very seismically active region near the point of collision between three tectonic plates: the Cocos, the Caribbean and the North American. At least six other magnitude 7.0 or greater earthquakes have hit the area since 1900 - three of them within a nine-month period from 1902-1903.
@dwnews - Scary moments of Mexico quake shared on social media
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Civil Defense officials wrote on Twitter that their personnel were patrolling the streets in Chiapas, aiding residents and looking for damage.
Chiapas Governor Manuel Velasco told broadcaster Televisa some homes had been damaged and a shopping center had collapsed in the town of San Cristobal.
"Homes, schools and hospitals have been affected," Velasco said.
In Tabasco state, next to Chiapas, Governor Arturo Nunez said two of the dead were small children who were residents of his state. One child was crushed by a falling wall while the other was an infant who perished when his ventilator stopped functioning after a power outage in a hospital.
