Southern Mexico Struck By 6.1 Earthquake, Third Major Quake In Three Weeks
Another severe earthquake has rocked Mexico, as a 6.1 magnitude earthquake shook the southern state of Oaxaca on Saturday morning. According to local officials, there has not been significant structural damage or casualties.
Aftershocks of 5.2 and 5.0 shook the Oaxaca area about half an hour after the initial quake. The region was struck on Sept. 7 by an 8.1 earthquake near Chiapas in the southern Pacific coast, which marked Mexico's largest recorded earthquake in over a century.
Saturday's 6.1 earthquake, which seismologists claim was likely an aftershock of the Sept. 7 quake, was centered about 11 miles southeast of Matias Romero, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Of the more than 4,000 aftershocks, it was the strongest recorded aftershock of the Sept. 7 quake.
“At the moment the greatest damage has been to the Ixtaltepec bridge, which should be rebuilt, and structures with previous damage that collapsed,” Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted Saturday morning.
The earthquake comes after a 7.1 earthquake Tuesday near Mexico City. Buildings swayed Saturday in Mexico City from the most recent quake and hospital workers in the nation's capital reportedly ordered visitors to evacuate, according to the Associated Press.
Close to 300 people died in Tuesday's quake and 98 were reported killed in the Sept. 7 quake.
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