Skip to main content

Mexico Earthquake, at 8.1 Magnitude, Is Felt for Hundreds of Miles - The New York Times

posted onSeptember 8, 2017
>

Article snippet: MEXICO CITY — A powerful earthquake struck off the Pacific Coast of Mexico late Thursday, shaking buildings as far away as Mexico City and sending worried residents fleeing into the streets. At least five deaths were reported in the immediate aftermath of the quake. The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 8.1, according to the United States Geological Survey, and struck about 60 miles southwest of Pijijiapan, off the coast of Chiapas State, near the border with Guatemala. The quake was felt in the capital, Mexico City, more than 450 miles from the epicenter. Mexico City’s earthquake alarm sounded, sending people running into the streets, many of them in nightclothes, looking up nervously at shaking trees and swaying power lines. Zhaira Franco, 35, who works for Facebook in social programming, said she heard an alarm 30 seconds before the earthquake hit her building in Mexico City. The building shook so much that it hit the adjacent building, she said. The quake also rocked the city’s landmark Angel of Independence monument. A glass door shattered at Mexico City’s main airport, and there were reports of tumbling walls. Helicopters circled over the city to assess damage, but there were no immediate reports of casualties in the city. A hotel in the Pacific state of Oaxaca was evacuated. The ceiling of a shopping mall in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of Chiapas State, collapsed, littering the floor with debris. Five aftershocks with a preliminary magnitude 4.9 or st... Link to the full article to read more

Emotional score for this article