Powerful quake kills 7 in southern Mexico

OAXACA, Mexico－A magnitude-7.5 earthquake struck southern Mexico on Tuesday, killing at least seven people, sending hundreds fleeing from their homes and forcing the closure of a major state-owned oil refinery.

Hundreds of aftershocks were reported in the hours following the initial tremor, which was felt in Mexico City, about 700 kilometers from the epicenter in Crucecita in Oaxaca state.

"We had to leave because there is a risk that the market will collapse. We are hardly selling anything because of the pandemic and now if the market is closed we will have a worse time," said Juana Martinez, 60, a flower-seller in Oaxaca city.

All the deaths occurred in Oaxaca, with the majority due to the collapse of buildings. A woman died near Crucecita, and five other people died in towns within 150 km of the epicenter, officials said.

There was no damage reported to "strategic infrastructure" including ports, airports, refineries and hydroelectric plants, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a video published on social media.

Mexican Oil said its refinery in Salina Cruz in Oaxaca had been shut down as a precaution after a fire broke out at the plant "that was immediately stifled".

One of the dead from the earthquake was a worker at the refinery, who was killed after falling off a high structure.

Other refineries in the state are operating as normal, Mexican Oil said.

Rescuers were battling to reach a remote area of the rugged state amid reports that 15 workers had become trapped while constructing a highway.

Six hours after the quake, 447 aftershocks had been recorded across the region, the strongest at a magnitude of 4.6.

Tsunami warning reversed

An initial tsunami warning was later reversed. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially said hazardous waves as high as three meters could strike anywhere within 1,000 kilometers of the quake's epicenter, affecting the Pacific coast of Mexico and Central and South America.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum also activated response protocols, adding that two people had been injured. Apart from some building facades falling, she said there had been "no major incidents" reported.

The earthquake was felt in several parts of the capital of 8.8 million people. In 2017, a magnitude-7.1 quake left 360 people dead throughout the country.

The quake has hit at a time when Mexico is already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

It has suffered more than 23,000 COVID-19 deaths－the second most in Latin America－and had recorded 191,410 cases by Tuesday. Some 6,288 new infections were reported in the latest 24-hour period, a record increase, according to the Ministry of Health.

Agencies - Xinhua