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Earthquake hits Mexico
Updated January 23, 2003; 9:20
AM
An eathquake ranging in magnitude between 7.6 to 7.8 rocked Mexico yesterday at 8:06 pm (local time). At least 29 people have died, most in the state of Colima. Two people died in separate incidents in the northern, neighboring state of Jalisco, an 85 year-old woman and a 1-year old girl, according to reports. The epicenter of the shallow quake hit off of Colima's western coast at a depth of 33 kilometers. Structural damage to buildings and power outages halted telecommunications in Colima's capital where at least nine of the deaths reportedly occured. Witnesses describe feeling the quake strongly in Mexico City, 500 kilometers to the west. The U.S. Geological Survey put the earthquake at a 7.8 magnitude, after initally reporting the temblor at 7.3. The National Seismological Center in Mexico City, however is reporting the earthquake as a magnitude 7.6. The quake follows as the strongest to hit the country since 1995, when a magnitude-8.0 quake struck about 50 kilometers northwest of yesterday's epicenter. That earthquake resulted in 49 deaths and left a thousand people homeless.
Christina Reed
Agency Links:
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program
National Seismological Center in Mexico City (in Spanish)
National Seismological Center in Mexico City (translated into English)
News Links:
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