Death toll from Mexican earthquake climbs to 90

The number of victims from a strong earthquake in Mexico on Thursday night has climbed to 90, authorities confirmed on Sunday.

During an evaluation meeting, Oaxaca state governor Alejandro Murat confirmed that 71 people died in southern state of Oaxaca, where the worst impact was felt.

He told reporters that the search and rescue in the state would continue until there were no reports of missing persons.

Another 15 people were killed in neighboring Chiapas state and four others in Tabasco, Mexico's civil defence chief Luis Felipe said on Saturday.

A powerful earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale struck off Mexico's southern coast late Thursday night, with its epicenter 96 km southwest of the town of Pijijiapan in Chiapas state, at a depth of 33 km.

The quake affected at least 50 million people in 12 states. The worst-hit city is Juchitan in Oaxaca, where at least 36 bodies were pulled from ruins. Oaxaca is one of the three states near the quake epicenter off the coast.

According to the Mexican authorities, this was the most intense earthquake the country has suffered in the last 100 years.

source: Xinhua