A major earthquake of magnitude 7.4 shook the southern part of Mexico on Tuesday. About five were reported dead in this earthquake that rattled the South Pacific coast of the country. The fatalities were near the quake’s epicentre in Oaxaca, a mountainous state known for its coffee, mescal, and Spanish colonial architecture. The authorities reported that two of the deaths reported were at the state-run oil company, Pemex, shortly after which the refinery was shut down temporarily. Pemex also reported a fire that had occurred as a result of this earthquake.
Rescue workers have not yet been able to access isolated villages reportedly hit, raising fears that more could have been injured.
Buildings that were several hundred miles from the epicentre were also found to have been shaking, and people had rushed out of buildings as soon as the alarm had gone off. Churches, bridges, and highways also suffered damage during the quake.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that there had been more than 140 aftershocks, albeit small.
Helicopters flew around to survey the damage as the nurses and doctors tried to calm down the patients in coronavirus isolation wards, who had gone into a state of panic due to the earthquake. Meanwhile, there were several groups of people found in clusters on the streets without proper PPE, despite constant warnings by the officials due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mexico has a coronavirus toll of 1,91,000 while the number of deaths is at 23,377.