JUCHITAN, Mexico: The death toll from a massive earthquake that struck south-western Mexico last week has risen to 90, authorities said, as recovery efforts accelerated in the hardest-hit areas.
The 8.2-magnitude quake — the strongest to hit Mexico in nearly a century — struck off the coast of Chiapas state on Thursday, leaving hundreds of buildings in ruins and triggering multiple aftershocks.
Authorities in the state of Oaxaca said late on Saturday that the number of dead had jumped from 46 to 71. Nineteen other people
died in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, bringing the total death toll to 90.
“The power of nature may be destructive, but the power of unity and solidarity of the Mexicans is far greater,” said President Enrique Pena Nieto on Saturday after visiting the quake-zone.
In Juchitan, a city of 98,000 people in Oaxaca, suffered some of the worst damage in the country. Thirty-seven people died in Juchitan.
A team of volunteer rescuers were sifting through the rubble in search of survivors, and to help authorities survey the damage and confirm the number of victims.
The volunteers, also known as “topos,” specialise in post-earthquake relief, and were first formed in the wake of the disastrous earthquake that struck Mexico City in September 1985.
On that occasion, an 8.1-magnitude earthquake left thousands of buildings in ruins, leaving an estimated 10,000 people dead and causing billions of dollars worth of damages.
The epicentre of Thursday’s earthquake was 700 kilometres from the capital. The distance, coupled with improved building safety codes in the wake of the 1985 disaster, ensured that the capital emerged relatively unscathed from the high-magnitude quake. — dpa
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