Aftershocks continue in Chiapas, Oaxaca More than 1,100 have followed Thursday's massive earthquake 0

Aftershocks continue in Chiapas, Oaxaca

More than 1,100 have followed Thursday's massive earthquake

  0

Mexico News Daily | Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Continuing aftershocks in Oaxaca and Chiapas are making things difficult for census takers trying to evaluate the damages to buildings after last Thursday’s massive earthquake.

Interior Secretary Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong said today that a damage census would be complete by the end of the week regardless.

The concern is that buildings will sustain further damages as a result of the aftershocks, of which there have been more than 1,100 since Thursday.

A temblor measuring 5.6 at 4:09pm yesterday caused a cell phone tower to topple from the roof of a three-story building and land in the street in the Chiapas capital of Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Epicenter of the quake was 126 kilometers from Tonalá.

In Juchitán on Saturday, a three-story building fell into the street, a day and a half after the 8.2-magnitude quake that has killed 96 people.

In Oaxaca yesterday, army personnel began to demolish buildings that were beyond repair in the municipalities of Ixtaltepec and Juchitán. Federal officials have confirmed that 12,000 homes have been damaged in the state, and that 971 of them had been completely destroyed.

The federal government has announced that funds will be provided to employ residents of affected areas in cleanup operations and rebuilding.

Other structures affected by the quake are schools and churches. State Governor Alejandro Murat said yesterday that damage has been reported in 402 schools; in 60 the damages are severe. Seventy-eight churches were affected, he said.

The total number of victims in Oaxaca is now estimated at more than 800,000.

As of yesterday, 8,000 people were still without electricity.

Efforts to locate victims in the rubble in Juchitán continue with a canine unit of the Navy Secretariat. A marine said yesterday they had recovered 12 victims who were still alive. Another 41 were dead.

In Chiapas, reports indicate damage has been far more extensive. As of late yesterday, the state’s Civil Protection office said 1.47 million people had been affected by the earthquake and nearly 18,000 families are staying with relatives or in temporary shelters.

Homes that sustained damages number 40,633; 6,000 of those were destroyed, chiefly in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Tonalá, Parral and Chiapilla.

Also affected are 1,000 schools, 48 health sector facilities, 29 public buildings, 52 churches, 106 business premises, numerous highways and 11 bridges.