Mexico Earthquake: Tsunami Warnings Issued

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8.1 magnitude earthquakes struck off the coasts of Mexico killing five people so far. Currently evacuations are underway across the region due to tsunami warnings.

The quake occurred 165km west of the state of Chiapas just before midnight on Thursday local time, and was said to be the strongest earthquake to hit the country since 1985, according to the civil protection agency. Three people were confirmed dead in Chiapas, and two in Tabasco State, as the Pacific tsunami warning centre said waves as high as three metres could strike the coast.  The tremor is possibly the strongest to shake the country since 1985, when a Magnitude 8.0 earthquake levelled large portions of the capital. Much of Mexico City was built on the soft soil of a former lakebed, leaving it vulnerable to earthquakes. Waves below 0.3 metres were forecast for countries as far as Australia, Japan and Vietnam.  The tsunami threat to Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa was ruled out. In Guatemala, the president, Jimmy Morales, said he had reports of an unconfirmed death near the border with Mexico in San Marcos state. The Mexican seismological authority said the quake was 19km deep, and triggered a series of magnitude 6 aftershocks. Chiapas is historically a very seismic state due to the interaction of five tectonic plates”, it said in a report on the earthquake. The state has suffered three tremors above magnitude 7 since 1970, including one on 7 November 2012 that measured at 7.3.