Earthquake kills one in Mexico
By Ibrahim Adeleke
A yet-to-be-identified woman has been killed by a strong earthquake that rocked Mexico on Thursday.
The woman, who died in Mexico City, fell down from a staircase and hit her head after the quake triggered early warning alarms.
Reports by authorities confirmed that people rushed out into the streets of the capital in the middle of the night, days after another powerful tremor.
The epicenter of the 6.9-magnitude quake was near the Pacific coast, 84 kilometers (52 miles) south of Coalcoman in the western state of Michoacan, the national seismological agency reported.
The US Geological Survey estimated the magnitude at 6.8.
Michoacan had been hit by a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake on Monday that left two people dead, damaged several thousand buildings and sparked panic more than 400 kilometers away in Mexico City.
The latest quake again triggered alarms in the capital shortly after 1:00 am (0600 GMT) and caused buildings to shake and sway.
Many people quickly evacuated their homes when the alarms sounded, some still dressed in pajamas and carrying their pet dogs.
“We had a 6.9 magnitude aftershock with an epicenter in Coalcoman,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Twitter.
“It was felt in Michoacan (and the other states of) Colima, Jalisco, Guerrero and Mexico City. So far there are no reports of damage,” he added.
Mexico City Mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum said official helicopters had flown over the city and that there were no initial reports of destruction.
Mexico City, which together with surrounding urban areas is home to more than 20 million people, is built in a natural basin filled with the sediment of a former lake, making it particularly vulnerable to earthquakes.
