5 killed in Mexico quake

No fewer than five persons have been killed as a powerful earthquake hit six Mexican states.

Many rattled by the quake were working from home as the capital, Mexico City, is under lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The BBC however reports that the government’s alert system worked well, giving residents time to leave their homes.

The epicentre of the quake, with a magnitude of 7.4, was in the south-western state of Oaxaca.

All of the reported fatalities were from the state on the country’s Pacific coast.

Tuesday’s shaker comes less than three years after an earthquake left hundreds dead and thousands homeless in Mexico City.

About 200 houses in the tourist town of La Crucecita were damaged on Tuesday, a local official said.

“We lost everything in one moment to nature,” Vicente Romero, an owner of a stationary shop told the Reuters news agency. “This is our life’s work.”

In the wake of the quake, more than 400 aftershocks had been recorded across the region, the strongest at 4.6 magnitude.