Mexico Earthquake Kills Dozens, Tsunami Warning Issued
Around 50 million Mexicans felt the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 8.2.
At least 30 people are dead after a massive earthquake slammed the coast of southern Mexico Thursday night. Around 50 million Mexicans felt the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 8.2, the strongest since an 8.1 quake killed thousands in 1985.
The effects of the earthquake were also felt in neighboring countries like Guatemala and Belize. The National Seismological Service registered several aftershocks—at least 20—in the hours after the initial impact. People in Mexico shared what they saw and experienced when the quake hit:
Mexico City and at least 10 Mexican states cancelled classes on Friday in light of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto's order of an immediate assessment of the nationwide damage.
"We are assessing the damage, which will probably take hours, if not days," said Peña Nieto. "But the population is safe over all. There should not be a major sense of panic."
Mexico's government also issued a tsunami warning off the coast of states Oaxaca and Chiapas. As of Friday early afternoon, neither appeared to have been severely impacted by the waves. According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, the largest wave was recorded on Mexico's Pacific Coast and measured less than four feet.
Between this earthquake, and the back-to-backhurricanes that have and will hit the Gulf Coast of the U.S., and the wildfires on the West Coast... let's just all hope for better days. Actually, scratch that. Climate change is real. Humans are slowly killing this planet, and we only get one. It's time for us to 1) collectively acknowledge that climate change is an actual thing—looking at you, Drumpf; and 2) start taking responsible steps, reactively and proactively, to do our part to at least slow it down. Because at this rate, how many more disasters can we handle and actually recover from?
