What We Know So Far
- A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck central Mexico Sept. 19, causing widespread damage and toppling dozens of buildings.
- The death toll from that quake has risen to at least 369 people.
- The US Geological Survey said the quake was centered in the Puebla state about 76 miles southeast of Mexico City.
- The Sept. 19 temblor struck on the anniversary of a magnitude 8.0 quake in 1985 that killed thousands of people in Mexico City.
- It also struck days after a magnitude 8.2 quake occurred off the southern Pacific coast.
Updates
Death toll climbs as accusations emerge about collapsed school that killed 26 people
The death toll in the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on Sept. 19 rose Tuesday to 366 as new accusations emerged about the known safety risks at a school that became a focal point of rescue operations in the aftermath of the destruction.
National Civil Defense chief Luis Felipe Puente reported the updated fatalities on Twitter, with Mexico City continuing to take the brunt of the loss at 225 dead.
Most of the rubble has at this point been cleared from 38 buildings that collapsed in the temblor, but bodies continue to be unearthed.
⚡️ #Actualización 🔴 TOTAL 366 fallecidos por #Sismo 19/09/17 #CDMX: 225 #Morelos: 74 #Puebla: 45 #Edoméx: 15 #Guerrero: 6 #Oaxaca: 1
Meanwhile, accusations emerged that local officials were warned that illegal construction at an elementary school in Mexico City's southern Coapa district had compromised its structural integrity.
A wing of the Enrique Rebsamen School pancaked when the earthquake struck, and became a focal point of national attention as rescuers raced to pull children and adults from the rubble. Ultimately, 19 children and seven adults perished in the collapse.
A former administrator for the borough alleges that officials were warned in 2013 that an illegally added fourth floor were "damaging structural elements that affect the stability of the building," the Associated Press reported.
The school, however, was reportedly still allowed to complete the work by paying an estimated $1,600 fine.
—Jason Wells
Death toll rises to 355 as crews continue to clear rubble
The death toll in the powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck central Mexico on Sept. 19 rose to 355, officials said Friday.
The revised figure comes as crews continue to clear rubble from dozens of collapsed buildings, particularly in hard-hit Mexico City, where the majority of deaths — 214 — occurred. Rescue operations have largely shutdown this week as efforts converted to recovery and reconstruction.
Meanwhile, the government is grappling with how to handle thousands of residents whose homes were either destroyed or deemed too dangerous to occupy after the Sept. 19 quake and the earlier one that struck the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas on Sept. 7.
Officials on Wednesday said more than 153,000 homes were damaged in the quakes. Of those, more than 70,000 were either completely destroyed or tagged as uninhabitable.
Mexico City has promised to offer rental assistance to displaced residents as officials set up programs for low-interest reconstruction loans and other financial aid for homeowners. The federal government has also promised to help as reconstruction begins.
—Jason Wells
Death toll rises to 333 as rescue deadline looms
The death toll in the Sept. 19th earthquake rose to 333 on Tuesday as hope of finding any more survivors continued to fade.
Forty-three people were still missing at four sites in Mexico City, where rescuers have been hand-picking through debris, according to Luis Felipe Puente, coordinator of Mexico’s civil protection agency. Of those, 40 are believed trapped beneath a collapsed office building in the Roma district.
Workers will continue to comb through the rubble until the end of Thursday, when rescue operations are scheduled to end.
"I can say that at this time it would be unlikely to find someone alive," Puente told Reuters.
🔴 #Actualización ⚡TOTAL 333 fallecidos por #Sismo 19/09/17 #CDMX: 194 #Morelos: 74 #Puebla: 45 #Edoméx: 13 #Guerrero: 6 #Oaxaca: 1
About 40 buildings collapsed in Mexico City when the 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck less than two weeks after a magnitude 8.2 quake off the nation's Pacific coast. Nearly 100 deaths were blamed on that temblor.
—Jason Wells
Death toll from Tuesday's quake is at 318
#Actualización ⚡️: TOTAL *305* fallecidos #Ciudad de México: 167 #Morelos: 73 #Puebla: 45 #Estado de México: 13 #Guerrero: 6 #Oaxaca: 1
At least 318 people are now known to have died across Mexico due to Tuesday's earthquake, according to Mexican officials.
In a tweet, Luis Felipe Puente said the toll include at least 180 fatalities in Mexico City, the Associated Press reported.
—David Mack
Magnitude-6.1 quake strikes southern Mexico, felt in capital
A magnitude-6.1 earthquake struck near Oaxaca in southern Mexico on Saturday, the same region that was devastated by a magnitude-8.2 quake earlier this month.
Saturday's quake struck at a depth of 9 kilometers (5.59 miles) at 8.53 a.m. ET, the US Geological Survey said.
The director of Mexico’s disaster agency said the tremor was an aftershock connected to the Sept. 8 quake which struck the country's south, the Associated Press reported.
The rumble was also felt in Mexico City, where building swayed, according to the AP.
It was not immediately clear what damage, if any, Saturday's quake caused.
—David Mack
Mexico's Devastating Earthquake Opens Up Old Wounds Of Mistrust In The Government
MEXICO CITY — A horrifying rumor that Mexico's government was about to demolish the remnants of a school with children still alive inside spread quickly, and Marianna Lainez had to see for herself if it was true or not.
President Enrique Peña Nieto had said emphatically the rumor, spread through social media, was not true. Mexico's secretary of defense and secretary of interior refuted the claim. News stations also debunked the false rumor, but none of these officials were sources Lainez nor the dozens of others standing outside the school keeping guard could trust.
"There's no confidence in what they say," Lainez told BuzzFeed News. "What they tell us is never real."
—Sarah Blaskey and Sal Hernandez
New volunteer site links architects with homes in need of a safety inspection
With reports of over 50 buildings collapsed in Mexico City alone after the earthquake on Tuesday, many residents are not returning to their homes either because they fear they will collapse or authorities have made them off limits pending safety inspections.
For those worried about their homes, a crowdsourcing platform called Salva Tu Casa (Save Your Home) launched, linking architects and structural engineers with people who want their homes inspected.
"The objective of this project is to centralize the information about affected buildings... so that our volunteers visit the buildings as quickly as possible and can channel that information to the authorities," reads the Salva Tu Casa website.
A resident can send information about their home – outlining details like how big it is, what it's constructed from, how damaged the roof and walls are – and the site then arranges for an architect or structural engineer to visit.
The inspection is free, set up by volunteers as a way of helping people after the earthquake.
— Amber Jamieson
Mexico's trash collectors work overtime to clean up the city
Garbage collectors are working overtime in Mexico City in order to keep up with trash generated from the earthquake.
One of them, Raúl Santiago, said he has been working 13-hour days since Tuesday in La Condesa, a booming neighborhood in the city's center where several large buildings collapsed and many others were damaged.
"It's a lot more — maybe four times more than usual," Santiago told BuzzFeed News.
People in affected areas have had to throw away many personal items, including large furniture, after their homes were destroyed.
Additionally, the distribution points for aid have collected hundreds of thousands of bottles of water to distribute throughout the city to areas still without running water or other utilities.
— Sarah Blaskey
The earthquake death toll rises to 286
#Actualización ⚡️: Al momento se reportan *286* fallecidos: #CDMX: 148 #Morelos: 73 #Puebla: 45 #Edoméx: 13 #Guerrero: 6 #Oaxaca: 1
The death toll from Tuesday's devastating earthquake has risen to 286 people, according to the head of the civil defense agency.
National civil protection coordinator Luis Felipe Puente tweeted Friday morning that 148 of those deaths were in Mexico City, 73 in Morelos, 45 in Puebla, 13 in Edomex, six in Guerrero and one in Oaxaca.
—Michelle Broder Van Dyke
Search for trapped survivors continues in race against clock
People heard alive in the collapsed building on Av. #Taxqueña. Rain falls as rescuers try to get them out.… https://t.co/TW4VjWzsfO
Volunteer and official search efforts for trapped survivors continued in Mexico City on Thursday, two days after the devastating earthquake struck the region.
International teams of search and rescue units, from countries including the US, El Salvador, Israel, Peru, and Spain, joined locals in the attempt to dig people from the rubble in a race against the clock. César Lange, who arrived on Wednesday from Panama, told BuzzFeed News his 35-person and two-dog team had supplies to stay for 7-10 days.
At the scene of one collapsed building Thursday evening, rescuers closed in on what sounded like trapped survivors. In an image that has played out across the city since the quake, they raised their fists to ask for silence to allow rescuers to better listen for sounds of life. A crowd of volunteers hushed almost immediately.
People formed lines radiating from where rescuers worked, passing back messages with their needs: water, or expert assistance from an electrician, and in this case, cardboard to lay on rain-slicked ground.
Eight people from the building were still unaccounted for, people at the scene said.
Hours later, their efforts uncovered one person — deceased.
They turned back to search for others.
—Sarah Blaskey, Louis Baudoin-Laarman, and Claudia Koerner
Therapists are offering mental-health support at shelters for earthquake survivors
Therapists have been dispatched to shelters for earthquake survivors, offering support to the many people still in shock from the disaster.
Wearing signs that say "psychological support," the therapists have come from around the region at the call of an informal professional network.
Part of their work includes psychological assessment of the people who have been most severely affected by the quake, clinical psychologist Vanesa Gámez told BuzzFeed News. But mostly, it's about support.
"The people who are here haven't been able to cry yet," she said. "They are still in shock."
Therapist Wendy Cáseres also traveled between shelter and aid sites, offering whatever help was needed. Physical therapists and chiropractors have also been present, offering aid to those with physical pain.
For her part, Cáseres said many people she had spoken to felt hopeless and unsure of what would happen to them — and with many buildings not yet inspected, unsure if they can return to their homes.
"They're not alone," she said. "We're here to help them." —Sarah Blaskey and Louis Baudoin-Laarman
Official now says reports of girl trapped alive in school rubble aren't true
For two days, Mexico had been gripped by the story of a young girl trapped under the rubble of a school in Mexico City after Tuesday's earthquake, but on Thursday afternoon officials made a stunning announcement: the young girl did not exist.
"We want to stress, this story about a girl whose name was out in [news casts], we’ve never had any knowledge of this version,” said Almirante Ángel Enrique Sarmiento, deputy secretary of the Navy.
Sarmiento said that school and education officials said there was no evidence of the girl. All children at the school were either dead, in hospital, or at home, he said.
Sarmiento said he was unaware of how the Frida Sofia saga began.
However, authorities believe an adult woman remains alive under the school rubble and rescue attempts for her are continuing, he said.
The Navy has been leading rescue efforts at the three-story building housing Colegio Enrique Rébsamen, a school in the southern part of Mexico City.
Read more here. —Amber Jamieson and Salvador Hernandez
Children left homeless by quake get chance to play games and sing
Kids who can't return to their homes after the Mexico earthquake are being distracted from their worries by a local group of teachers leading them in games and singalongs.
Physical Education teachers from Mexico City's Escuela Superior de la Educación Física are visiting children who are living out of tents on the Calzada de las Bombas.
"We are giving smiles to kids that are in a bad crisis, we're here helping them with songs, games and some joy," Eunice Melina Almanza, a teacher, told BuzzFeed News.
The teachers are singing songs and getting the kids active and laughing, dancing to music playing out of a portable sound system.
In Calzada de las Bombas, a major street in the south of Mexico City, a gas tank exploded during the earthquake, burning one woman and two children. All three are now in the hospital.
Many residents do not want to go back to their homes because the Proteccion Civil has not yet come to check for structural damages.
— Sarah Blaskey and Louis Baudoin-Laarman
Mexico City residents are turning to a local monitoring center for help
People in Mexico City’s southeastern district of Iztapalapa are turning to a WhatsApp-fueled neighborhood monitoring center for help with broken gas lines, cracked foundations, and other issues after the earthquake as first responders focus on major rescues.
The government-paid workers at the regional monitoring center, called Base Plata, usually spend their days as a neighborhood watch and dispatch — notifying people when their home alarms go off, and letting people know which government resources are available for public safety issues. They’ve been in operation for about two years.
But now, they’ve turned into an alternate 911 for less-serious concerns, as first responders triage rescue efforts and scour collapsed buildings for the living and dead.
On the day of the 7.1 earthquake, Base Plata received 413 “neighborly alerts” sent from their own public notification kiosks, and 137 WhatsApp messages for the whole district. On a normal day, they average around 15 to 20 requests in total.
“We are not a call center so we cannot legally receive calls, so [residents of Iztapalopa] send us messages when they want us to attend to them, and we call them back,” Sergio Avalos, technical secretary of the government of Iztapalapa, who also works at Base Plata, told Buzzfeed News.
If someone calls in a gas leak, for example, “I send a security unit to verify the emergency and at the same time we call the firefighters,” Ruth Lievano, the head of the monitoring system, told BuzzFeed News.
Ruth Lievano, the head of the Base Plata monitoring system
The group’s security unit is made up of local police, who can immediately secure the area in the case of gas leaks or unstable buildings.
When BuzzFeed News visited the center on Wednesday afternoon, about 20 government workers — including district representatives and public security forces — were working from rows of computers.
In normal times, Mexican law says emergency calls must be directed to 911. However, with many lines busy after the earthquake hit, citizens living in damaged buildings contacted Base Plata for help. The center relies on a partnership with local security forces to respond to the more serious situations.
Some residents of the neighborhood have been critical of the federal government’s response to the earthquake: "Help came, but it came from us," said local resident Ana Volaños.
Across Mexico City, citizen volunteers are taking on relief efforts. Distribution centers have popped up in squares across the city where volunteers collect donations of food, water, and other staples, and then send the supplies to those in need.
Iztapala district has been coordinating large-scale relief efforts through Base Plata and its own distribution center. Its personnel have visited victims, surveyed damage buildings, and conducted crowd control in affected areas. It has also built up the most comprehensive list of damage and casualties within the district, thanks to its ability to quickly gather information through a wide range of sources.
— Sarah Blaskey and Louis Baudoin-Laarman
All eyes turn toward trapped 12-year-old Frida Sofia as frantic rescue efforts ramp up
Rescue efforts ramped up across Mexico on Wednesday as much of the battered nation's hope and attention turned to a young girl named Frida Sofia who remained trapped in the wreckage of a collapsed school.
Rescue crews at Colegio Enrique Rébsamen, in Mexico City, have said they've spoken to the girl, who has now spent more than 24 hours under a table that kept the building from crushing over her.
Officials found the girl while searching for survivors using heat, sound, and movement detectors in the rubble. On Wednesday morning, officials confirmed they were able to speak to the girl.
Televisa reported the girl told rescue crews trying to reach that her name was Frida Sofia, that she was 12 years old, and there were two people near her, although she didn't know if they were alive.
Minutes after her name was made public, Frida Sofia began trending on social media.
The school was already a central point of coverage for Televisa and other news organizations in Mexico. By Tuesday night, 25 people were confirmed killed in the school, 21 of them children.
On Wednesday, rescue operations remained the national focus as many people continued to be pulled from the rubble.
—Salvador Hernandez
Thousands of earthquake victims overwhelm Mexico City's hospitals
MEXICO CITY — Hospitals were strained to their limits in Mexico City after hundreds of people were killed and thousands more injured after Tuesday's 7.1 magnitude earthquake toppled buildings and crumbled infrastructure throughout the region.
Previously scheduled surgeries and other procedures remained on hold Wednesday as medical staff turned their attention to the immediate needs of people suffering fractures, lacerations, and head trauma. Admissions were based on a color-coded triage system as rescuers continued to pull injured survivors from the rubble, revealing new patients with serious medical needs.
At the General Naval Hospital in the neighborhood of Coyoacán, staff treated 104 people for injuries sustained during the quake, many from being crushed by falling debris. Of those treated, only about 10% were in serious condition and needed surgery for internal injuries, the hospital's cardiovascular surgeon Adrián Yebra López told BuzzFeed News. The hospital has not released information on how many, if any, have died after arrival.
Read more here.
—Sarah Blaskey, Louis Baudoin-Laarman, and Claudia Koerner
Trump spoke with Mexico's president and offered help and search-and-rescue teams
President Trump called Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto Wednesday to offer condolences and help for those affected by Tuesday's deadly quake.
"The president offered assistance and search-and-rescue teams, which are being deployed now," according a read-out of the call released by the White House. "The president also pledged to continue close coordination with Mexico as the two countries respond to the recent quakes and hurricanes."
Trump's call, just one day after the 7.1 earthquake struck central Mexico, stood in stark contrast to the previous 8.2 quake that hit Mexico less than two weeks ago, for which Trump took nearly a week to reach out to Peña Nieto.
Trump blamed bad cell service on the delayed call, although Peña Nieto and other Mexican officials appeared to have no problem connecting from some of the most affected and damaged areas.
Also this time around, Trump sent out a tweet just hours after the quake struck on Tuesday.
God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you.
Peña Nieto's office, in a statement, said it received calls Wednesday from Trump, as well as Spain's King Felipe VI, and Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos.
In a tweet, Peña Nieto thanked all countries that have offered help and solidarity with Mexico.
—Salvador Hernandez
Mexico declares three days of mourning as Peña Nieto visits hardest hit town
Mexico has declared three days of national mourning Wednesday for the victims of the 7.1 earthquake that devastated the central region.
It is the second time in September the country has declared three days of mourning, the first being for a powerful earthquake that struck off the coast of the south less than two weeks earlier.
The announcement was made while Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto visited the town of Jujutla, Morales, the town that has suffered the most deaths and collapsed buildings since the Tuesday quake.
While addressing the residents of Jujutla, Peña Nieto tried to assure people the federal government would be providing help to those families whose homes were destroyed by the quake.
But the efforts of reconstruction, he told the residents, would require the help of all citizens.
"It will be important that the community be part of the reconstruction efforts," Peña Nieto told a crowd. "We will need the community to get involved."
Thousands of people in Mexico have already stepped in alongside emergency and military personnel who have been deployed to the affected areas. Volunteers have been involved in clearing rubble, as well as rescuing people trapped underneath collapsed buildings.
—Salvador Hernandez
Here's why Mexico City is such a deadly place for earthquakes
The earthquake that struck Mexico on Tuesday, killing at least 225 people, owes its deadliness to its origin in the center of the country rather than its overall power.
Mexico is one of the most seismically active nations in the world, perched atop three clashing pieces of the Earth’s crust. It was struck with two deadly quakes this month, including a magnitude 8.1 one that hit the southwest coast on September 8 and killed at least 90 people. Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 quake struck about 76 miles southeast of Mexico City, according to the US Geological Survey. It produced strong motions felt by more than 12 million people, and noticeably swayed buildings in Mexico’s capital city, some of which collapsed.
The danger was no surprise to seismologists.
“Everyone in the earthquake business knows that Mexico City is built on pudding,” seismologist Max Wyss of the International Centre for Earth Simulation in Switzerland told BuzzFeed News. “It is uniquely vulnerable to earthquakes.”
Read more here.
—Dan Vergano and Peter Aldhous
Rescuers attempt to free girl trapped at school
Rescuers have spent much of Wednesday attempting to free a young girl trapped under her school, Colegio Enrique Rebsamen, in Mexico City, according to local media.
So far 11 children have been rescued from the school since the earthquake. Twenty-five people, 21 of them children, have died at the school.
Noticieros Televisa (which is screening footage of the rescue attempt live on Facebook) reports that three children are believed trapped in the one area but that only one girl is showing signs of life, by moving her hand when requested. Rescuers are shouting words of encouragement to her.
Two rescuers have tunneled under and inside the building and are trying to reach the children.
Footage from the school shortly after the earthquake shows collapsed buildings and children lining up outside immediately after the quake.
Así fueron los primeros instantes tras el derrumbe del Colegio #Rebsamen @c4jimenez
Other rescues have been taking place across Mexico City and neighboring states on Wednesday, including a rescue by fireman of an elderly couple that had not wanted to leave their home after the earthquake.
Célula USAR asiste y rescata a pareja de ancianitos en riesgo al no querer salir de su vivienda derrumbada tras… https://t.co/cFVXA0sbLq
— Amber Jamieson
The state of Morelos, south of Mexico City, emerges as one of the most badly hit areas
The moment the 7.1-magnitude quake hit Jojutla, in Morelos State, south of Mexico City https://t.co/Vu1Up9b7MQ
President Enrique Nieto of Mexico visited the state of Morelos Wednesday, one of the areas most devastated by the quake and where 55 people have died.
El Presidente @EPN recorre la zona afectada en #Jojutla #Morelos #FuerzaMéxico
Local media tweeted footage of the quake and photos of collapsed buildings there and reiterated calls for aid Wednesday.
#Sismo #héroes #ayuda #DF #México #EnriqueRebsamen @eolopacheco
#Sismo #DF #Cuernavaca #México #Axochiapan #Morelos @eolopacheco
#Jojutla #Morelos #sismo
En #Jojutla - #Morelos también se requiere mucha #Ayuda y no se le esta dando la atención necesaria. #FuerzaMéxico… https://t.co/U2vVzUcOlk
—Cora Lewis
Mexico City residents living on streets in makeshift camps
Residents in Mexico City are setting up makeshift camps in the street after houses collapsed on the south side of the city in Tuesday's earthquake.
On Calzada de las Bombas, where these photos and video were taken, several homes were destroyed. With many homes on the south side of city older and more vulnerable to collapse, people began camping in the middle of the street under tarpaulins and in tents.
The makeshift camps popped up after the earthquake because people either didn't have access to their homes or it was perceived as too dangerous to enter.
– Sarah Blaskey
Officials say 38 buildings have collapsed in Mexico City
In neighborhoods including Condesa, La Roma, Portales and Tlalpan, nearly 40 buildings have collapsed, Mexico City's mayor, Miguel Mancera, said at a press conference Wednesday, following Tuesday's quake. He said that 52 people have been rescued alive so far.
En conferencia de prensa JGCDMX @ManceraMiguelMX informa que al momento hay 38 inmuebles colapsados en la #CDMX
Search and rescue operations remain underway, with bodies and people still actively being recovered. Authorities warned that anyone who sees cracks in their homes must evacuate and call the authorities.
Dos mujeres que hacían limpieza en departamentos de este edficio en la Portales Sur son buscadas entre los escombro… https://t.co/5m30lFXcxm
En la calle Amsterdam, de la Colonia Condesa, rescatistas sacaron con vida a un hombre.
Public transportation has also suspended fares, as first responders and volunteers continue to unearth residents from the rubble.
Nuestro reconocimiento a las y los voluntarios y brigadistas por su labor de rescate en zonas afectadas por sismo.… https://t.co/IaQ8qfYHyb
The state of Puebla was also very badly hit by the quake. The state's governor, Tony Gali, shared photos Wednesday of churches and monuments that had been badly damaged.
El @INAHmx comienza a evaluar las iglesias y monumentos históricos que sufrieron daños a 25 horas del sismo. Todos… https://t.co/1clGAqvVAW
-- Cora Lewis
Mexico's biggest earthquakes since 1900
This graphic shows earthquakes since 1900 with a magnitude of 6 or more, scaled by the amount of shaking recorded on a seismograph. The 8 magnitude quake that devastated Mexico City in 1985 is shown in pink. This month's quakes, an 8.1 magnitude that struck near the border with Guatemala on September 8 and the 7.1 magnitude quake that hit on September 19, are animated in red. The background color shows the risk of experiencing a major earthquake, estimated by the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program.
— Peter Aldhous
Photos of Mexican citizens coming to the rescue
In Mexico City, hundreds of local residents have joined rescue personnel in rescue efforts after Tuesday's powerful earthquake.
Forming human chains, the citizens help to remove debris as the desperate search for survivors continues.
See the photos here. —Gabriel Sanchez
Elementary school collapse kills 21 children, 4 adults
Mexico's Secretary of Public Education confirmed that 21 children and four adults died at Colegio Enrique Rebsamen, an elementary school in Mexico City that collapsed during Tuesday's earthquake.
"Sadly confirm the deaths of 25 people, 21 children and four adults in the Enrique Rebsamen school. My condolences to their families," tweeted Aurelio Nuño, the secretary of public education.
En la escuela Enrique Rébsamen, lamentablemente se confirma la muerte de 25 personas, 21 niños y 4 adultos. Mis condolencias a sus familias.
Overnight, rescue attempts continued at the school, with canine units brought in Tuesday night to locate children still alive.
On Wednesday morning, a special unit of volunteers, Topos de Tlatelolco (also known as Topos Aztecos, a professional non-profit rescue team), came to tunnel under the school, digging through concrete and wood in search of pockets of air where survivors may be hidden.
Only one student, age 13, is being treated at Hospital Angeles Acoxpa, around the corner from the collapsed school.
Hospital staff told BuzzFeed News they treated more than 80 people after the quake, with injuries ranging from serious head trauma to fractures.
Some injured have been discharged and others are still being treated. No one has died at the hospital.
A public list of people being treated is displayed at the hospital, so family members can come and check for loved ones. "Alta" means they have left the hospital, while "hospitalizada" means they are still hospitalized.
— Sarah Blaskey and Louis Baudoin-Laarman
Earthquake death toll rises to 225
The death toll from Tuesday's earthquake has risen to 225 people, with 94 of those in Mexico City, according to the head of the civil defense agency.
National coordinator Luis Felipe Puente, tweeted the latest death toll update, which showed an increase in deaths in Mexico City. Another 71 people died in Morelos, 43 in Puebla, 12 in Edomex, four in Guerrero and one in Oaxaca,
#Actualización: Suman 225 fallecidos: 94 #CDMX, 71 #Morelos, 43 #Puebla, 12 #Edoméx, 4 #Guerrero y 1 #Oaxaca.
The office of the presidency tweeted photos showing armed forces and volunteer rescues working to find people trapped under buildings.
Nuestras Fuerzas Armadas y decenas de voluntarios trabajan sin descanso en las las zonas de derrumbe tras el #sismo… https://t.co/dZRNzEGz0B
— Amber Jamieson
Rescue workers are digging for survivors after a school collapsed in Mexico City
Emergency responders are searching for at least 30 children and teachers after a school collapsed during a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Mexico City on Tuesday.
Hundreds of students and some staff were inside the Enrique Rebsamen primary school, on the south side of Mexico City, when it collapsed. Local residents crowded the scene soon after the building collapsed, many bringing water and blankets, doing what they could to help the recovery operation.
“I had to remove two children of about five years old [from the rubble], who were still hugging each other,” Luis Muñoz Trejo, a volunteer rescuer told BuzzFeed News.
Some students were still being pulled out alive Tuesday night, Muñoz said, including a group of young girls who had been trapped in the parking area and were in the process of being rescued. Dozens of children rescued from the rubble have been taken to local hospitals.
You can read more here.
– Sarah Blaskey & Louis Baudoin-Laarman
The death toll from the earthquake rose to 216 as officials continued to comb through the rubble
#Ajuste Hasta el momento se reportan 216 fallecidos: 86 #CDMX, 71 #Morelos, 43 #Puebla, 12 #Edoméx, 3 #Guerrero y 1 #Oaxaca.
The death toll from Mexico's massive earthquake has risen to 216, the national coordinator of Mexico's civil defense agency, Luis Felipe Puente, said late Tuesday.
In a tweet, Puente said there had been 86 fatalities in Mexico City, 71 in Morelos, 43 in Puebla, 12 in Edomex, three in Guerrero, and 1 in Oaxaca. The total was revised down from an earlier tweet, sent minutes prior, which claimed that 226 people had been killed. — Francis Whittaker
22 people killed, 30 kids missing in collapsed school in Mexico City, president says
.@EPN confirma 22 muertos, 30 desaparecidos en colegio #EnriqueRebsamen:
Twenty-two bodies have been been recovered from an elementary school in Mexico City that collapsed during the earthquake, and voices can still be heard from the rubble, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto told reporters Tuesday night.
Of the 22 bodies, Peña Nieto said two were adults, suggesting that many of the other fatalities in the school could be young children.
Peña Nieto had been on his way to Oaxaca Tuesday to survey damage from the 8.1 magnitude earthquake that struck there two weeks ago, but he returned to Mexico City after learning about the latest deadly quake.
He spoke to reporters at the school Enrique Rébsamen, where dozens of children are still missing. He was seen speaking with teachers and administrators as rescue efforts continued into the night.
Several children and adults have been rescued from the collapsed buildings, Peña Nieto said, but 30 children and eight adults remain missing.
"There are voices," he said, saying rescuers were using the sound of voices to direct their rescue efforts.
—Salvador Hernandez
AT&T and Movistar won't charge for phone calls or data service because of the quake
La telefónica AT&T anuncia que no cobrará llamadas ni mensajes de texto debido al sismo
Cellular service providers AT&T and Movistar announced they won't be charging for phone calls, texts, or data services as people affected by the quake try to contact loved ones.
In a statement, AT&T said it would open up their services free of charge to everyone in the country until Thursday. The company said it also won't charge for calls or texts from the US to Mexico as people continue to contact friends and relatives to see if they were impacted by the quake.
"AT&T reiterates its commitment to Mexico and it's people," the company said in a statement.
Abrimos las redes para apoyar a México #FUERZAMEXICO https://t.co/AsBoR1hWwg
Movistar also said it would also offer free services to its users in Mexico City, Mexico state, Puebla, and Morelos — the areas most affected by the deadly quake.
Officials in the state of Mexico have also stepped in to offer free services. Governor Alfredo del Mazo announced public transit would be free Tuesday and Wednesday.
—Salvador Hernandez
19 horrifying photos of the earthquake's aftermath
With more than 100 dead after a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Mexico Tuesday, thousands more poured into city centers to help rescuers amid the devastation.
For look at just some of the damage to ravage Mexico on Tuesday, go here.
—Gabriel H. Sanchez
Mexico City is asking for volunteers to help rescue people trapped inside the rubble
Mexico City has put out a public call for volunteers to help rescue people trapped inside the rubble of collapsed buildings throughout the city.
More than 40 buildings collapsed in Mexico's capital, which is home to almost 9 million residents. At least 30 people have been reported dead in the city so far.
Agua, palas, cubetas, carretillas o carritos de super en Gabriel Mancera y Escocia, en la Colonia Del Valle, POR FA… https://t.co/oogIDa941c
Red cross says there are several people trapped under the building. Some alive. Volunteers line up to carry away pi… https://t.co/uZfUo6yxbt
Volunteers were asked to report to the city's rescue and emergency respond unit, known as the Escuadrón de Rescate y Urgencias Médicas.
Across the city, however, hundreds of people on the street appeared to have already jumped in to rescue efforts, helping to haul off debris and search for people trapped.
Edificio derrumbado sobre Viaducto, entre Torreón y Gabriel Mancera
As people searched for survivors in the city's Roma neighborhood, rescue workers and volunteers asked people to be quiet so they could try to listen for people trapped.
Durante el rescate de personas en un edificio en la colonia #Roma, PC pidió silencio para escuchar si había más… https://t.co/LXsjsztci3
Officials are also reaching out to residents of the city, asking for tools to search through debris, including shovels, pickaxes, and buckets.
—Salvador Hernandez
The death toll in Mexico climbs to 119 as Mexico's interior secretary declares "extraordinary emergency"
Mexico's interior secretary declared an "extraordinary emergency" in the Mexico City as officials confirmed the nation's death toll from Tuesday's quake had reached at least 119 people.
Most of the dead were reported in the state of Morelos, were 54 people were killed, according to the Associated Press.
Officials in Puebla confirmed another 26 people were killed in there, and another nine died in Mexico state.
In Mexico City, at least 30 people had been killed after buildings in dozens of areas collapsed, the AP reported.
The federal government's "extraordinary emergency" declaration for Mexico City will give local authorities access to an emergency fund.
The declaration included 16 neighborhoods affected by the quake.
—Salvador Hernandez
Mexican president walks back false rumors of two quakes striking Mexico Tuesday
#ENVIVO | @EPN en mensaje por sismo en México https://t.co/r1VAFbYbWt #FuerzaMéxico
In his first comments since another deadly earthquake struck Mexico on Tuesday, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto repeated a false rumor that not one but two quakes had hit central Mexico.
Seconds after repeating the rumor, Peña Nieto walked back the comment, telling reporters traveling with him, "It could have been one earthquake. Let's wait for the seismologists."
Peña Nieto is on his way back from Oaxaca, where he has been visiting towns devastated by the 8.2 magnitude quake that hit the area in the early hours of Sept. 8.
Despite the earthquake that struck central Mexico Tuesday, the federal government would not stop providing assistance to those who were still reeling from the effects of the first quake, he added.
Peña Nieto also said the government would also be looking into reports that Mexico City's early warning system might not have alerted some areas of the city prior to the quake on Tuesday.
—Salvador Hernandez
More than 100 people were injured in the chaos surrounding Tuesday's earthquake at Mexico City International Airport.
Tourists, an airport doctor, and first responders spoke to a BuzzFeed News reporter at the scene. Around 50 people suffered fractures, Dr. Minelmar Valeria said, and dozens of others were injured by broken glass or falls they suffered as crowds rushed to exit the terminal.
"[It was] horrible. It felt like the terminal moved completely," she said. "The walls were moving, the chairs, the desks, all of the medical materials."
Those with injuries were being taken by bus to hospitals; one person was transferred by ambulance, which were only available for the most grave of cases in the quake's aftermath.
Meanwhile, would-be travelers were stranded at the airport, which appeared to be structurally damaged, with little information. Flights were expected to later be rerouted through other airports, but until then, those on scene were left with little food, water, medicine, and supplies.
Operations resumed at 4 p.m. local time, airport officials said, after runways were found to not have been damaged. Work was ongoing in the terminals to ensure there were no safety risks.
—Sarah Blaskey
At least 77 people have been confirmed killed in Tuesday's earthquake
At least 77 people have been confirmed killed across three states in central Mexico, officials said.
In the state of Morelos, Governor Graco Ramírez expressed condolences for the lives lost in his state, which included at least 42 people.
In Puebla, Governor Tony Gali Fayad said during an emergency meeting with heads of the state government that at least 26 people had been reported killed in the state, many of who were people inside buildings that collapsed during the quake.
In Mexico state, at least nine deaths were attributed to the quake, Governor Alfredo Del Mazo announced on Twitter.
—Salvador Hernandez
Seismologists say Tuesday's earthquake was not connected to Sept. 8 quake
Seismologists in Mexico say the deadly 7.1 magnitude earthquake that rocked the country Tuesday was not connected to the 8.2 magnitude that struck Sept. 8 off the country's southern coast.
Despite the short period of time between the two intense quakes, the earthquakes stemmed from two different tectonic plates, seismologists from Mexico's UNAM university said in a press conference.
Seismologists at the university also tried to put away rumors that two different quakes had struck the region on Tuesday, saying it was one large earthquake that was felt across the states of Puebla, Morelos, Mexico, and Guerrero.
More than 12.4 million people were exposed to the strongest movement from the powerful quake, officials said.
Tuesday's earthquake struck on the 32nd anniversary to the powerful 1985 earthquake that devastated Mexico City and left about 10,000 people dead.
"It's purely coincidence," a seismologist for the university said.
—Salvador Hernandez
A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake rattled Mexico City Tuesday, killing dozens of people just days after a previous quake killed at least 90 people in the southern states.
Morelos Governor Graco Ramirez confirmed at least 42 people had been killed in his state as of Tuesday afternoon.
Primer reporte preliminar personas fallecidas. Mi abrazo solidario a familiares. Estamos atendiendo a familias. Nue… https://t.co/eCnWVYaXjS
According to the Associated Press, Mexico State Gov. Alfredo del Mazo told Televisa at least two people were killed there.
The US Geological Survey said the epicenter of the earthquake struck central Mexico near the town of Raboso, in the state of Puebla, about 76 miles southeast of Mexico City.
There were no immediate official estimates on the damage caused by the quake.
Desalojan Yucatán en Condesa #CDMX
Amigos por favor compartan. Hay muchas zonas afectadas que necesitan ayuda. #tenemossismo
The quake also came on the 32nd anniversary of the powerful 1985 Mexico City earthquake that devastated the region, killing as many as 10,000 people.
Earlier in the day, residents throughout the city had participated in preparedness drills to commemorate the disaster. Since the 1985 earthquake, most of the city takes parts in emergency drills in preparation for another powerful tremor.
Images on social media showed people getting out of the city's high-rises and walking out into the street, asking strangers if the shaking was over.
El estacionamiento del Liverpool de Polanco se movió demasiado y se empezó a despedazar.
In this video, people huddled together in the 38th floor of a building near the elevators as the shaking continued.
En el piso 38 en pleno Reforma.
Videos and images from social media also showed damage caused to buildings in Mexico's capitol.
AHORA - Primeros reportes hablan de un terremoto de 6.8 grados en la ciudad de México #MexicoDF #mexico… https://t.co/MFFtpj7AjN
This is an image of a building before and after it collapsed in the neighborhood of Condesa, in Mexico City.
Así lucía el edificio de Álvaro Obregón 286, en la Condesa, que se derrumbó por el sismo de esta tarde
In other areas, residents swarmed collapsed buildings in the search of potential victims.
In Mexico City's Roma neighborhood, people were seen digging through and pulling up debris to try to rescue people trapped underneath.
Vecinos en la Roma levantan escombros para buscar personas atrapadas bajo escombros. @SPCCDMX @PcSegob
Mexico City International airport also appeared to have suffered some damage to its roads.
Fuertisimo temblor en cmx aeropuerto con daños considerable.
After the quake, the governor of Puebla Tony Gali announced all public and private schools would be shut down until further notice in order for officials to assess the damages.
Mexico City Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera announced on Twitter an emergency cabinet meeting was being called to assess the damage in the city and direct services for those affected.
The governor of the state of Guerrero, Héctor Astudillo, said on Twitter officials have received reports of heavily damaged roads and highways, and asked people to drive with extreme caution.
President Enrique Peña Nieto, who has been visiting the towns affected by the deadly earthquake from Sept. 8, said he was flying back from Oaxaca to Mexico City to assess the damage.
En vuelo a Oaxaca. Regreso de inmediato a la Ciudad de México para atender la situación por sismo.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.