Mexico Digs Out
A rescuer looks for victims after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake rattled Mexico City on Sept. 19. Ronaldo Schemidt—AFP/Getty Images
Scenes From the Aftermath of Mexico’s Devastating Earthquake
By Katie Reilly and Andrew Katz
At least 220 people were killed in a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that rattled Mexico on Tuesday, toppling buildings and leaving people trapped under rubble. The earthquake was the deadliest to strike the country in decades, the Associated Press reported, citing the head of Mexico’s national Civil Defense Agency, who lowered the confirmed death toll to 217 early on Wednesday.
The epicenter of the earthquake — which struck Tuesday at 2:14 p.m. E.T. — was located in the town of Raboso, 76 miles southeast of Mexico City, which suffered significant damage. First responders and volunteers in the city continued working Wednesday to dig through the rubble, find victims and deliver water.
“This is ugly, very ugly,” Carlos Mendoza, who witnessed rescuers pulling two people out of a collapsed apartment building, told the AP.
People stand at a building that collapsed in Mexico City on Sept. 19. Ronaldo Schemidt—AFP/Getty Images
A car sits under the rubble of a building that collapsed in Mexico City on Sept. 19. Hector Vivas—Getty Images
Rescue workers and volunteers search for survivors at a collapsed building in the Del Valle neighborhood of Mexico City on Sept. 19. Miguel Tovar—AP
Rescuers display a placard reading “Silence” as they hurry to free possible victims out of the rubble of a collapsed building after a quake rattled Mexico City on Sept. 19. Pedro Pardo—AFP/Getty Images
A woman speaks on her phone as people who evacuated an office building gather on Reforma Avenue in Mexico City on Sept. 19. Rebecca Blackwell—AP/REX/Shutterstock
An injured victim is rescued from a building on Sept. 19. Pedro Mera—Getty Images
A man trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building is given a sip of water as he waits to be rescued in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City on Sept. 19. Pablo Ramos—AP
Rescuers and residents look for victims amid the ruins of a building that collapsed in Mexico City on Sept. 19. Christian Palma—Getty Images
Local residents look out from their flat in the zone where rescuers, firefighters, policemen, soldiers and volunteers remove rubble and debris from flattened buildings in search of survivors after a powerful quake in Mexico City on Sept. 19. Pedro Pardo—AFP/Getty Images
Thousands of people poured onto the streets after the earthquake in Mexico City on Sept. 19. EPA
Volunteers pick up the rubble from a building that collapsed in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City on Sept. 19. Rebecca Blackwell—AP/REX/Shutterstock
The body of woman hangs in the rubble of a collapsed building in the Roma Norte neighborhood of Mexico City on Sept. 19. AP/REX/Shutterstock
Rescuers work at a destroyed building at Colonia Condesa in Mexico City on Sept. 20. Pedro Mera—Getty Images
Rescue workers remove a body after searching through rubble at the Enrique Rebsamen school in Mexico City on Sept. 20 Carlos Jasso—Reuters
People walk past victims of the earthquake in Atzala, Puebla, on Sept. 19. Jose Casta—AFP/Getty Images
Rescuers take a moment to rest in Mexico City early on Sept. 20. Pedro Pardo—AFP/Getty Images
This post will be updated