Mexico hit by an earthquake of magnitude 8.1, 6 dead, Tsunami triggered

The southern coast of Mexico has been hit by an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 on Thursday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. It took lives of at least six persons and triggering small tsunami waves leading to no major destruction. About 1 million people were affected as power went out in neighboring cities. The quake was stronger than a devastating 1985 tremor that flattened swathes of Mexico City and killed thousands. A number of buildings suffered severe damage in parts of southern Mexico.  Sections of the town hall, a hotel, a bar and other buildings were reduced to rubble in Juchitan in Oaxaca state. Windows of the Mexico City airport were shattered due to the earthquake.  The quake triggered waves as high as 2.3 ft (0.7 m) in Mexico, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said “The tsunami risk on the Chiapas coast does not represent a major risk, it’s not very big, it’s not a major worry,” President Enrique Pena Nieto said in a call to TV network Televisa. The USGS reported multiple aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 4.3 to 5.7. The epicenter of the quake was in the Pacific, 54 miles (87 km) southwest of the town of Pijijiapan in the poor southern state of Chiapas, 43 miles deep. The president said more aftershocks were likely and that people should carefully check their homes and offices for structural damage and for gas leaks. “We are alert,” he said. No tsunami threat for American Samoa and Hawaii, according to the US Tsunami Warning System. -PTC News