A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Mexico Tuesday afternoon, killing scores of people and leaving Mexico City crippled with damage.
The Washington Post reported that the earthquake killed more than 200 people across central Mexico. Close to 40 percent of the city is without power.
Volunteers, medics and marines have been working to clear off chunks of fallen rubble and find people who may be buried underneath, The Washington Post reported.
How many buildings collapsed?: At least 44 buildings collapsed or partly collapsed because of the earthquake, according to The Washington Post.
Videos: Raw footage shot on scene by bystanders show the extensive damage to the city. These videos, as highlighted by the Deseret News, show buildings collapsing and exploding.
Missing children: Sky News reported that there are several children missing after a school collapsed. Parents and experts are advising those children to send WhatsApp messages to notify authorities of their whereabouts.
About two weeks ago: The coast of Mexico's Chiapas state was hit with a 8.2-magnitude earthquake almost two weeks ago. It killed more than 90 people and damaged close to 2.3 million homes.
Heres why it happened: The two recent earthquakes had some similarities, exports told CNN. They were caused by a result of the rupture of fault lines within the North American tectonic plate.
This seismic activity is not uncommon, according to Behzad Fatahi, associate professor of geotechnical and earthquake engineering at the University of Technology Sydney.
"It is not very unusual to get earthquakes and aftershocks occurring in sequence," Fatahi said. "When fault lines rupture, they can induce further ruptures as a chain effect in other parts of the same fault or nearby fault lines
It happened on an anniversary: The earthquake happened on the 32-year anniversary of a 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Mexico city on Sept. 19, 1985. As CNN reported, that earthquake killed nearly 9,500 people.
Mexico City is especially vulnerable: John Vidale, a seismologist and director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, wrote on Wednesday that Mexico City is notoriously vulnerable to earthquakes.
"The downtown of Mexico City is notoriously vulnerable to earthquakes because of the very soft and wet ground underneath. Its soil amplifies shaking like Jell-O on a plate, and is prone to liquefaction, which is the ability to transform dirt into a dense liquid when sufficiently churned," he wrote.
A sobering reminder for Los Angeles: One Los Angeles Times opinion writer said that the Mexico earthquake is a sign of whats possibly in store for the California city. Like Mexico City, Los Angeles is prone to seismic activity. In fact, the city had a 3.6-magnitude quake this week.
The Washington Post reported that the earthquake killed more than 200 people across central Mexico. Close to 40 percent of the city is without power.
Volunteers, medics and marines have been working to clear off chunks of fallen rubble and find people who may be buried underneath, The Washington Post reported.
How many buildings collapsed?: At least 44 buildings collapsed or partly collapsed because of the earthquake, according to The Washington Post.
Videos: Raw footage shot on scene by bystanders show the extensive damage to the city. These videos, as highlighted by the Deseret News, show buildings collapsing and exploding.
Missing children: Sky News reported that there are several children missing after a school collapsed. Parents and experts are advising those children to send WhatsApp messages to notify authorities of their whereabouts.
About two weeks ago: The coast of Mexico's Chiapas state was hit with a 8.2-magnitude earthquake almost two weeks ago. It killed more than 90 people and damaged close to 2.3 million homes.
Heres why it happened: The two recent earthquakes had some similarities, exports told CNN. They were caused by a result of the rupture of fault lines within the North American tectonic plate.
This seismic activity is not uncommon, according to Behzad Fatahi, associate professor of geotechnical and earthquake engineering at the University of Technology Sydney.
"It is not very unusual to get earthquakes and aftershocks occurring in sequence," Fatahi said. "When fault lines rupture, they can induce further ruptures as a chain effect in other parts of the same fault or nearby fault lines
It happened on an anniversary: The earthquake happened on the 32-year anniversary of a 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Mexico city on Sept. 19, 1985. As CNN reported, that earthquake killed nearly 9,500 people.
Mexico City is especially vulnerable: John Vidale, a seismologist and director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, wrote on Wednesday that Mexico City is notoriously vulnerable to earthquakes.
"The downtown of Mexico City is notoriously vulnerable to earthquakes because of the very soft and wet ground underneath. Its soil amplifies shaking like Jell-O on a plate, and is prone to liquefaction, which is the ability to transform dirt into a dense liquid when sufficiently churned," he wrote.
A sobering reminder for Los Angeles: One Los Angeles Times opinion writer said that the Mexico earthquake is a sign of whats possibly in store for the California city. Like Mexico City, Los Angeles is prone to seismic activity. In fact, the city had a 3.6-magnitude quake this week.
