© Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty ImagesA car crushed by debris in Mexico City.
A powerful earthquake has jolted Mexico City - measuring magnitude 7.4 according to the US Geological Survey - causing buildings to sway sickeningly
on the anniversary of a 1985 quake that did major damage to the capital.
The extent of damage or injuries was not immediately clear, but people fled office buildings along the central Reforma Avenue.
Mexico's seismological agency estimated its preliminary magnitude at 6.8 and said its centre was east of the city in the state of Puebla.
© The Guardian
Pictures fell from walls and objects were shaken off of flat surfaces. Some people dove for cover under desks.
A video that appear to show the earthquake in action show lights swaying above people crowding into hallways for safety, and then those lights seeming to lose power.
Comment: RT is reporting that:
A civil protection official told local TV that the earthquake has led to fires in buildings across the City of Mexico, with some people trapped inside.
This comes just 11 days after
the strongest earthquake ever recorded in Mexico.
Lots of footage coming out now from Mexico City:
This is almost certainly a mass casualty event.
First death toll reports
40 people killed.
UPDATE (20 Sept.)The death toll in yesterday's earthquake has risen to 224, Interior Minister Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong
said, as cited by local media.
At least 30 people, most of them children, lost their lives after the elementary school collapsed in southern Mexico City, Mexico's Education Secretary, Aurelio Nuño told Imagen Televisión. Eleven people were rescued from under the rubble. Nuño added that rescuers aided by volunteers will continue to search for survivors.
The deadly quake occurred on the 32nd anniversary of the
1985 Mexico City earthquake which had a magnitude of 8.0 and a Mercalli intensity of IX (
Violent). The event caused serious damage to the Greater Mexico City area and the deaths of at least 5,000 people.
As rescue efforts continue the death toll is expected to rise. Further footage of the quake shows the devastation and panic caused.
UPDATE (22 Sept.)Authorities now put the death toll at
272 people, with the number expected to rise. Volunteer rescue workers who have been seeking survivors since Tuesday fought off growing fatigue to continue removing tons of rubble at dozens of flattened buildings in the capital and across several central states.
But time is running out as the search enters the third day. Experts say the average survival time in such conditions and depending on injuries is 72 hours. Some 200 people were still reported missing in Mexico City and feared trapped in the rubble.
Highlighting the confusion that still reigned after the quake,
one story that gripped the world's attention turned out to be false: that of a girl supposedly trapped alive beneath the rubble of a school that collapsed in Mexico City.
Assisting with rescue efforts is
Frida, a six-year-old labrador who has been deployed at disasters across Central and North America and has already saved 52 lives during her career. Her bravery and resourcefulness has even earned the praise of Mexico's president, Enrique Pena Nieto, who took to Twitter to praise her.
"This is Frida," he wrote. "She belongs to SEMAR and has helped save 52 lives in various natural disasters at national and international levels."
Wearing goggles, a khaki padded waistcoat and all-terrain boots, Frida was back in action weeks after saving 12 victims from an earlier Mexican quake.
Search-and-rescue teams continued to frantically search for victims trapped under the rubble of the
Enrique Rebsamen primary and secondary schools on Wednesday, more than 24 hours after the earthquake struck.The bodies of 21 children and four adults have been discovered, eleven people have been rescued and three are still missing.
© Carlos Jasso / ReutersPHOTO: Rescue workers remove a dead body after searching through rubble in a a search for students at Enrique Rebsamen school in Mexico City, Mexico, Sept. 20, 2017.
Comment: The earthquake in Mexico has had some eerie effects. This video was posted showing how the area was still reverberating from the quake, giving the appearance of the ground 'breathing'