Strong 6.2 magnitude quake shakes central Mexico: quake monitors

MEXICO CITY (AFP): A strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook central Mexico on Saturday days after a powerful quake that killed nearly 300 people, Mexican and US seismological monitors said.

The quake struck at 12:53 GMT with an epicentre 19.3 kilometres southeast of the city of Matias Romero, in the state of Oaxaca, the US Geological Survey reported. Mexican quake monitors gave the same figure.

In Mexico City work crews temporarily halted rescue operations, while the country´s Civil Protection service said there were no reports that the new quake – an apparent aftershock of Tuesday´s powerful 7.1 tremor – had affected the capital.

Tuesday’s 7.1 magnitude quake levelled some 52 buildings in the sprawling Mexican capital and killed at least 286 people, sparking a frenzied hunt for survivors and prompting political parties to outdo each other with pledges of donations to the rescue efforts ahead of next year’s election.

Across the city of 20 million people, the extent of damage from the quake was becoming apparent, with many people whose dwellings had become uninhabitable seeking somewhere to call home, raising the risk of a housing shortage in coming weeks.

The massive quake struck on the anniversary of the deadly 1985 tremor that killed some 5,000 people in Mexico City.