Powerful earthquake rocks Mexico City

UPDATE: Rescuers in Mexico continue to dig through collapsed homes, buildings, and schools looking for victims and survivors of Tuesday’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 225 people. On Wednesday morning, rescuers located a child buried alive under the rubble of a Mexico City school where at least 20 others have been found dead. The little girl raised her hand when rescuers at the Enrique Rebsamen school asked if she could hear them. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Wednesday afternoon declared three days of national mourning to honor the victims of the quake.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (9/20/17, 8:31 a.m.): The death toll from a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that rattled central Mexico on Tuesday has risen to 217 people. Luis Felipe Puente, head of the national civil defense agency, said authorities counted 86 casualties in Mexico City and another 71 people in Morelos state. Puente said they recorded 43 known deaths in Puebla state, where the quake was centered, and several others in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Mexico. The earthquake toppled dozens of buildings and sent thousands of people fleeing into the streets. The death toll may rise as rescue workers and volunteers continue to claw through rubble in search of survivors. Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said volunteers and emergency workers had rescued between 50 and 60 people in the capital. At a three-story primary and secondary school in Mexico City, rescue workers and volunteers searched with trained dogs and some used their bare hands. Pedro Serrano, a 29-year-old doctor who volunteered at the school, crawled into the rubble after hearing sounds from the structure but found no one alive. “We don't know if they’re coming from the walls above [crumbling], or from someone below calling for help,” Serrano said. Rescue workers had already pulled more than 25 bodies, many of them children, from the collapsed school.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (9/19/17, 5:35 p.m.): At least 44 people died Tuesday when a 7.1 magnitude earthquake rattled central Mexico, causing buildings to collapse and sending people running into the streets. Rescue crews began working immediately to look for anyone trapped in the rubble. A team in Mexico City successfully pulled one woman who was still alive from the remains of a pancaked building, sparking cheers from onlookers. The full extent of the damage isn’t yet clear, and the death toll could rise. Mexico City’s airport remained closed hours after the quake as crews inspected for possible damage. Tuesday’s temblor came on the 32nd anniversary of a massive 8.0 quake that devastated Mexico City. Earlier in the day, office workers held readiness drills to mark the anniversary. Mexican officials are still grappling with the aftermath of an 8.1 magnitude quake that struck Sept. 7 on the southern coast.