At least 44 dead in central Mexico after powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake
(The Star Golf)

MEXICO CITY—A magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked central Mexico on Tuesday, killing at least 44 people as buildings collapsed in plumes of dust and thousands fled into the streets in panic.The quake came less than two weeks after another quake left 90 dead in the country’s south, and it occurred as Mexicans commemorated the anniversary of a 1985 quake that killed thousands.Mexican media broadcast images of multiple downed buildings in densely populated parts of Mexico City and nearby Cuernavaca. A column of smoke rose from a structure in one central neighbourhood in the capital.Read more: Mexico mourns 66 dead after twin punch of earthquake, hurricaneMorelos Gov. Graco Ramirez reported on Twitter that at least 42 people had died in his state south of Mexico City.Gov. Alfredo del Mazo told the Televisa news network that two people died in the State of Mexico, which also borders the capital: a quarry worker who was killed when the quake unleashed a rockslide and another person who was hit by a falling lamppost.Rescue workers rushed to the site of damaged or collapsed buildings in the capital, and reporters saw onlookers cheer as a woman was pulled from the rubble.Rescuers immediately called for silence so that they could listen for others who might be trapped.The quake caused buildings to sway sickeningly in Mexico City and sent panicked office workers streaming into the streets, but the full extent of the damage was not yet clear.The U.S. Geological Survey calculated its magnitude at 7.1 and said it was centred near the Puebla state town of Raboso, about 123 kilometres southeast of Mexico City.Puebla Gov. Tony Gali tweeted that there had been damaged buildings in the city of Cholula including collapsed church steeples.In Mexico City, thousands of people fled office buildings and hugged to calm each other along the central Reforma Avenue as alarms blared, and traffic stopped around the Angel of Independence monument.Earlier in the day workplaces across ...