Strong quake shakes Mexico, causing panic

In Oaxaca, where the epicenter was located, authorities reported some structural damage to buildings in two towns, Pinotepa Nacional and Santiago Jamiltepec.

“Shelters have already been opened for those affected,” the state government said on Twitter.

Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera reported “very minor” damage in the capital.

That included reports of a wall that collapsed in the upscale Condesa neighborhood, which was hit hard by last year’s quakes.

A nearby hospital evacuated patients into the street, some in wheelchairs or carting their IV lines. Similar scenes played out in Veracruz.

Despite the scare, the only reported casualties came from the helicopter accident.

Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete told the Televisa network the pilot of the military helicopter lost control of the aircraft at a height of about 40 meters (130 feet) as it was coming in to land. He added that some passengers were hurt.

– Seismic hotbed –

The quake struck at a relatively deep 24.7 kilometers, said the US Geological Survey, which put the epicenter 37 kilometers (22 miles) northeast of Pinotepa de Don Luis, in Oaxaca.

A 5.9-magnitude aftershock hit nearly an hour later.

The latest tremor comes less than six months after last year’s devastating earthquakes in central and southern Mexico.

On September 7 last year, an 8.2-magnitude earthquake shook the nation and killed 96 people, mostly in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.

Then on September 19 — the 32nd anniversary of a huge 1985 quake that killed 10,000 people — a 7.1-magnitude quake rocked the country, leaving 369 people dead.

Mexico sits at a spot where five tectonic plates come together, making it particularly vulnerable to earthquakes.