Earthquake Death Toll Rises in Mexico as Hurricane Maria Pummels Puerto Rico
The death toll from Tuesday’s earthquake in Mexico has risen to more than 200 people.
Rescuers continue to search for survivors among the rubble of collapsed buildings in the nation’s capital city and in the surrounding region. The death toll will likely continue to rise.
The devastating magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck around 1 p.m. local time 100 miles south of Mexico City, and just two weeks after a more powerful earthquake caused a wave of destruction of Mexico’s Pacific coast and led to the deaths of more than 90 people. Dozens of buildings shook and caved, and a school in southern Mexico City collapsed, killing at least 21 children and four adults. At least 30 children are still being reported as missing.
People desperately trying to find their loved ones in Mexico City where a school collapsed. Children inside possibly stuck in the rubble. pic.twitter.com/6vBjI6g6bS
— Mayra Moreno ABC13 (@MayraABC13) September 20, 2017
Video shows Mexico City residents volunteer to help clear debris in the aftermath of quake that killed at least 149. https://t.co/A9hj9eoK9n pic.twitter.com/CF45lhZaFL
— ABC News (@ABC) September 20, 2017
Mexico City is chaos right now. This was 1 street away from my school! pic.twitter.com/Nr9u1YBpop
— Erick Plascencia (@erickeppmma) September 19, 2017
Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria made landfall around 6:15 a.m. Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 storm.
At 8 a.m. Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center reported sustained winds at 150 miles per hour. The center projects the eye of the hurricane to move across Puerto Rico this morning and pass the island by the afternoon before swinging just north of the Dominican Republic, where there are still expected to be hurricane conditions on Wednesday night and Thursday. The National Weather Service warned people in Puerto Rico to expect widespread power outages, impassable bridges and roads, storm surges of 6 to 9 feet, and “extreme” flooding. The conditions are also right for tornadoes.
On Twitter, Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló, reported that at 5 a.m., the island’s shelters, which still house refugees from Hurricane Irma and which in a previous tweet the governor counted at 146, held 11,229 refugees with 580 pets.
According to CNN, Maria is the first storm of its strength to hit Puerto Rico in nearly 80 years.
Hurricane winds briefly slowed down, #MariaPR right now in #PuertoRico's capital city
— PRFAA (@PRFAA) September 20, 2017
Help us recover by donating to https://t.co/xSFEX78SdW pic.twitter.com/pq5UtIFzqn
#HurricaneMaria about to make landfall in #PuertoRico and damage showing up on the streets of San Juan. Video from Zac Gooch. pic.twitter.com/fsL71xLwJP
— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) September 20, 2017