The death toll from the massive earthquake that struck Mexico on Thursday night has risen to at least 90 after emergency services in the southern state of Oaxaca said late on Saturday there had been 71 confirmed fatalities in the state alone.
“It’s 71 (dead). Just for Oaxaca,” said Jesus Gonzalez, a spokesperson for the state civil protection authority.
At least 15 people died in the neighbouring state of Chiapas, according to local authorities, while another four deaths have also been confirmed in the state of Tabasco to the north.
The 8.1 magnitude quake that struck off the coast of Chiapas on Thursday was stronger than a devastating 1985 temblor that flattened swathes of Mexico City and killed thousands.
Relief efforts in the south continued through Saturday, with many of the people worst affected still wary of returning indoors to weaken buildings, fearing they could be brought down by ongoing aftershocks.
Elsewhere two died in mudslides unleashed by storm Katia.
In the town of Juchitan, Oaxaca, hundreds of families spent the night camped in the streets, too scared to go back inside for fear of aftershocks.
The Mexican Seismological Service reported 721 aftershocks.
On Saturday, people in Juchitan queued up for food at a shop window as families carried flowers and wreaths, and eventually coffins.
Authorities raised the overall death toll throughout Saturday. In Juchitan, emergency teams with search dogs found the body of a policeman under the rubble of city hall.
Mexico’s seismology service measured on Thursday’s quake at magnitude 8.2. The US Geological Survey measured it at 8.1 – the same magnitude as the 1985 disaster.
The epicentre of Thursday’s quake was in the Pacific Ocean, about 100 kilometres off the town of Tonala in Chiapas. AFP reporters in Tonala saw residents salvaging belongings from their ruined houses.
In Tabasco State, two children were among the dead, officials said. One was crushed by a collapsing wall. Another, an infant on a respirator, died after the quake triggered a power outage.
Meanwhile, Katia made landfall in the neighbouring state of Veracruz as a Category One hurricane. It was later downgraded to a tropical storm, before petering out on Saturday.
