Thirteen killed in Mexican quake zone helicopter crash

– Panic and flashbacks –

The earthquake came less than six months after two quakes killed hundreds of people in the country.

On September 7, 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 1985 quake that killed 10,000 — a 7.1-magnitude quake hit the country, leaving 369 people dead.

Friday’s quake triggered Mexico City’s alarm system and caused buildings to sway in the capital. It was also felt in the states of Guerrero, Puebla and Michoacan.

I’d never experienced an advance warning system before today’s #earthquake in Mexico City. I thought it worked really well. Here was the scene outside the Metropolitan Cathedral as we waited for the quake to hit. pic.twitter.com/07SMqmxb8O

— Andrea Chang (@byandreachang) February 17, 2018

Panicked residents flooded the streets.

“To be honest, we’re all pretty upset. We start crying whenever the (earthquake) alarm goes off,” 38-year-old publicist Kevin Valladolid told AFP through tears after fleeing his building in La Roma, in central Mexico City.

“We’re stressed out, we have flashbacks. So we run out into the street. It’s all we can do.”

Patients from a nearby hospital were forced outside, some in wheelchairs or carting their IV lines. Similar scenes played out in Veracruz.

Standing in the middle of the street, her eyes glued to her fifth-floor apartment, Graciela Escalante, 72, could hardly speak.

Emergency authorities at the site of an earthquake in southern Mexico report “only material damage and no loss of human life” https://t.co/gnCxTByVoN pic.twitter.com/6difDLBJwu

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) February 17, 2018

“It was terribly strong. We barely managed to get down the stairs. It was the longest staircase in the world,” she told AFP.

“We thought everything was going to collapse again.”

Officials in affected states said they were inspecting buildings damaged by last year’s quakes, which are especially vulnerable to collapse.

“Obviously people are afraid,” said the emergency response chief for the city of Puebla, Gustavo Ariza.

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