Earthquake aftershocks continue to rock Mexico

Coastal areas as far south as Ecuador bracing for tsunami

MEXICO CITY - A magnitude-8.2 earthquake rocked Mexico on Thursday, killing at least 32 people and triggering a series of aftershocks and a tsunami alert in what the president called the country's biggest quake in a century.

Officials evacuated residents along the central and southern Pacific coast as seismologists warned a tsunami of more than three meters could be headed toward land, affecting coastal towns as far south as Ecuador.

The quake struck at a depth of 19 km in the Pacific shortly before midnight, about 100 kilometers from the coastal town of Tonala, in southern Chiapas state, Mexico's seismologic service said.

"It was a major earthquake in scale and magnitude, the strongest in the past 100 years," said President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The US Geological Survey put the magnitude slightly lower, at magnitude 8.1.

That is the same as a devastating 1985 earthquake in Mexico City that killed more than 10,000 people - the country's most destructive ever.

A number of buildings suffered severe damage in parts of southern Mexico. Some of the worst initial reports came from the town of Juchitan in Oaxaca state, where sections of the town hall, a hotel, a bar and other buildings were reduced to rubble.

Alejandro Murat, the state governor, said 23 deaths were registered in Oaxaca, 17 of them in Juchitan.

A spokesman for emergency services said seven people were also confirmed dead in the neighboring state of Chiapas.

The president downplayed the tsunami threat, saying it was "not a major risk at this time".

Coastal communities were on alert across a warning area that stretched through the Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras, all the way down to Ecuador.

"Based on all available data ... widespread hazardous tsunami waves are forecast for some coasts," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

"Tsunami waves reaching more than three meters above the tide level are possible along the coasts of Mexico," it said, with lower waves in other countries.

The quake shook a large swath of the country and was felt as far north as Mexico City - about 800 km from the epicenter - where people ran from their homes as buildings trembled and swayed.

Pena Nieto, who was supervising the emergency response from the National Disaster Prevention Center's headquarters, said 50 million of Mexico's 120 million residents felt the quake, and aftershocks continued through the night.

Schools were to remain closed on Friday in 10 states, including Mexico City, so officials could inspect for structural damage.

In the capital, people ran out of buildings - many in their pajamas - after hearing earthquake warning sirens go off just before midnight.

"I was driving when the ground started to shake. The car was wobbling!" said Cristian Rodriguez, a 28-year-old taxi driver in Mexico City.

"We heard an explosion. Apparently it was a transformer. The streetlights started swinging back and forth," said Mayaro Ortega, 31, a resident of the capital who went running from her building.

Since the 1985 earthquake, the authorities have instituted a stricter building code and developed an alert system using sensors placed on the coasts.

Mexico sits atop five tectonic plates, the constant movement of which makes it one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.

Afp - Ap