At Least One Person Dead After 7.1 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Mexico

Cars damaged during a quake are pictured at the Hotel Emporio in Acapulco, Mexico September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck near the port city of Acapulco Tuesday night, Mexico’s seismological agency said, shaking the capital, Mexico City, more than 230 miles away. At least one person was killed as a result, the authorities said.

Mexico’s national seismological service said the quake struck about seven miles northeast of Acapulco just before 9 p.m. local time. The service recorded 92 aftershocks in the hours after the quake. Photos from the city shared on social media showed cracked and damaged buildings, fallen lamp posts and streets strewn with broken glass.

The civil protection agency for Guerrero state, home to Acapulco, said the quake had led to power and phone outages. Videos from both Acapulco and Mexico City also showed the night sky lit up with electrical flashes as power lines swayed and buckled.

The Federal Electricity Commission said that 1.6 million users were left without power in Mexico City and the states of Mexico, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Morelos.

In the capital, power lines and buildings swayed for several seconds, and residents rushed outside to seek safe ground. Some neighborhoods in Mexico City were left without power, the police said.

In an interview with a local radio station, Héctor Astudillo, the governor of Guerrero state, said that one person had died from a falling post in the town of Coyuca de Benítez west of Acapulco.

Mr. Astudillo added that there had been reports of falling rocks and landslides, and that walls had fallen down in Chilpancingo, the state’s capital. Many parts of Acapulco were without power late Tuesday evening. “We are trying to continue gathering information,” the governor said.

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SOURCE: The New York Times, Oscar Lopez