The strongest earthquake to hit Mexico in over a century shook just 33km deep off the coast of Chiapas Thursday night. The 8.1 magnitude quake sparked tsunami warnings throughout Central America and the Pacific and was felt as far away as the nation’s capital, Mexico City, more than 600 miles from the epicenter.
By Friday morning the death toll had risen above 30 with Chiapas and Oaxaca having been hit the hardest. Meanwhile, while places like Puerto Escondido felt the late-night violent shaking, nothing more than a handful of beachside evacuations have been reported in the area. In the hours after the quake, a tsunami warning had been issued for places like Cook Islands, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guatemala, and Kiribati. In many of those places, the tsunami event was predicted to only bring waves between 30 cm and a meter, and the tsunami warning center eventually did record initial waves of just a meter over the tidal level in Salina Cruz. No tsunami warning was ever issued for the California coast over night.
Photo: CNN/USGS
North of Mexico, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement in the wake of the quake and his own state’s run in with another natural disaster.”Our hearts go out to the victims of this devastating tragedy and their families. Just as Mexico stood with Texas in our time of need, Texas will stand with Mexico and offer whatever aid and assistance we can to help them recover after this disaster,” he said.
As information and statistics are constantly changing, we will be on the lookout for updates.
