Magnitude-7.2 earthquake slams south, central Mexico

[spaminator]

Magnitude-7.2 earthquake slams south, central Mexico
Associated Press
More from Associated Press
Published:
February 16, 2018
Updated:
February 16, 2018 10:08 PM EST
Cyclists use their mobile phones during a powerful earthquake in Mexico City on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018.Yuri Cortez / AFP / Getty Images
MEXICO CITY — A powerful magnitude-7.2 earthquake shook south and central Mexico Friday, causing people to flee swaying buildings and office towers in the country’s capital, where residents were still jittery after a deadly quake five months ago.
Crowds gathered on Mexico City’s central Reforma Avenue as well as on streets in Oaxaca state’s capital, nearer the quake’s epicenter, which was in a rural area close to Mexico’s Pacific coast and the border with Guerrero state. There were no immediate reports of deaths.
“It was awful,” said Mercedes Rojas Huerta, 57, who was sitting on a bench outside her home in Mexico City’s trendy Condesa district, too frightened to go back inside. “It started to shake; the cars were going here and there. What do I do?”
People walk down the centre of a street in the Roma neighbourhood after an earthquake shook Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)
She said she was still scared thinking of the Sept. 19 earthquake that caused 228 deaths in the capital and 141 more in nearby states. Many buildings in Mexico City are still damaged from that quake.
The U.S. Geological Survey originally put the magnitude of Friday’s quake at 7.5 but later lowered it to 7.2. It said the epicenter was 33 miles (53 kilometres) northeast of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state. It had a depth of 15 miles (24 kilometres).
Mexican Civil Protection chief Luis Felipe Puente tweeted that there were no immediate reports of damages from the quake. The Oaxaca state government said via Twitter that only material damages were reported near Pinotepa and Santiago Jamiltepec, but that shelters were opened for those fleeing damaged homes.
The Mexico City Red Cross said via Twitter that the facade of a building collapsed in Mexico City’s Condesa neighbourhood, which was hit hard on Sept. 19. A video showed people walking through a dust cloud. But reporters at the scene later found no evidence of a collapse at the location given.
About an hour after the quake, a magnitude 5.8 aftershock also centred in Oaxaca caused tall buildings in Mexico City to briefly sway again.
USGS seismologist Paul Earle said Friday’s earthquake appeared to be a separate temblor, rather than an aftershock of a Sept. 8 earthquake also centred in Oaxaca, which registered a magnitude of 8.2. The Sept. 19 earthquake struck closer to Mexico City.
The Sept. 8 quake killed nearly 100 people in Oaxaca and neighbouring Chiapas, but was centred about 273 miles (440 kilometres) southwest of Friday’s earthquake, Earle said.
In Mexico’s capital, frightened residents flooded into the streets in Condesa, including one unidentified woman wrapped in just a towel, but there were no immediate signs of damage.
“I’m scared,” said Rojas Huerta, recalling five months ago when buildings fell as she ran barefoot into the street. “The house is old.”
Magnitude-7.2 earthquake slams south, central Mexico | Toronto Sun

 

[Murphy]

Nasty.

 

[B00Mer]

Huh didn’t feel a thing yesterday...

Oh but I was in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.. :lol:

Checked in on the 15th left about 11 AM on the 16th.. love that city.

 

[spaminator]

Chopper crash after Mexican quake kills 13
Associated Press
More from Associated Press
Published:
February 17, 2018
Updated:
February 17, 2018 12:43 PM EST
View of the remains of the military helicopter that fell on a van in Santiago Jamiltepec, Oaxaca state, Mexico, on Feb. 17, 2018. (PATRICIA CASTELLANOS/AFP/Getty Images)
By Mark Stevenson, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — A military helicopter carrying officials assessing damage from a powerful earthquake crashed Friday in southern Mexico, killing 13 people and injuring 15, all of them on the ground.
The Oaxaca state prosecutor’s office said in a statement that five women, four men and three children were killed at the crash site and another person died later at the hospital.
A state government official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said the chopper crashed into a group of people who had been spending the night in an open field after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the area. Aftershocks had caused people to flee their homes for fear they would collapse.
The Defence Department said the Blackhawk helicopter suffered the mishap when it was preparing to land on a vacant lot in the city of Jamiltepec, about 19 miles from the area of Pinotepa Nacional. The craft was carrying Interior Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat, neither of whom had serious injuries.
The accident was the latest embarrassment in Navarrete’s short term at the Interior Department, which oversees most political and security issues. Earlier this month, an intelligence agent from an agency overseen by Navarrete’s department was caught tailing an opposition presidential candidate.
Both Navarrete and the defence department said they regretted the loss of life in Friday’s accident.
Jorge Morales, a local reporter who was aboard the helicopter when it crashed, described harrowing moments as the pilot lost control and the helicopter attempted to land in a swirl of dust.
“The moment the helicopter touched down it lost control, it slid– like it skidded– and it hit some vehicles that were stationed in the area,” he told a Mexican television news program. “In that moment, you couldn’t see anything, nothing else was heard beside the sound that iron makes when it scrapes the earth.”
Navarrete and Murat were evaluating reports of damage from the earthquake before their helicopter crashed.
The U.S. Geological Survey originally put the magnitude of Friday’s quake at 7.5 but later lowered it to 7.2. It said the epicentre was 33 miles (53 kilometres) northeast of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state and had a depth of 15 miles (24 kilometres).
President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter that both officials and crew were fine, although the interior department said that they had light injuries.
Chopper crash after Mexican quake kills 13 | Toronto Sun