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Mexico shaken by new natural disaster that swayed buildings and paused rescue efforts

Of those, 192 are in Mexico City.

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As another aftershock jolted south-western Mexico on Sunday (local time), the death toll from Tuesday’s magnitude-7.1 quake climbed to 320 people. Three hotels and two churches were damaged and a highway bridge collapsed.

The earthquake hit on the anniversary of a huge quake in 1985 that killed more than 10,000 people, the disaster-prone country’s deadliest ever.

In the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the national shrine of the majority Roman Catholic country, thousands of people gathered to pray.

“Oh my God, have mercy!” exclaimed Teresa Martinez, 74 years old, rushing into the street. “Thanks to all those who came from other countries to help”.

She added, “Bulldozers and other equipment may drown out the sound of thunder, so crews should pay extra attention to weather conditions and be prepared to seek shelter indoors for a time”.

Alejandra Castellanos was on the second floor of a hotel in a central Mexico City neighbourhood and ran down the stairs and outside with her husband.

“We are not giving up”, he said, “and we hope not just that my niece survives, but all the people survive”. They found themselves huddled together in a cramped space. “It has been a rude awakening”.

The quake, coming exactly 32 years after a 1985 natural disaster killed some 10,000 people, delivered a massive psychological blow that specialists say will take time to overcome.

At least seven schools are at risk of collapsing, said Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera.

Concern that the aftershock could cause further collapses paralysed rescue efforts at a housing complex in the Tlalpan neighbourhood of Mexico City, frustrating first responders who believed people were alive under the rubble.

Highlighting the confusion that still reigned two days after the quake, one story that gripped the world’s attention turned out to be false: that of a girl supposedly trapped alive beneath the rubble of a school that collapsed in Mexico City. “We’re not there yet”, Cross said.

Mexico’s capital was shattered by Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 quake that flattened dozens of buildings and killed at least 307 people.

After the 7.1 magnitude quake rocked Mexico City on Tuesday killing over 250 people and leaving hundreds of homes, buildings and structures in uninhabitable conditions. There were no immediate reports of significant damage.

“We have already recorded more than 4,300 aftershocks”, Mr Campos said.

The delegation will stay in Mexico for a week and will come back on September 29, ahead of Yom Kippur. The number increased significantly in the capital, where it went from 154 to 167 in the last few hours.

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But he said residents and businesses still did not feel safe in the area, which became the heart of Mexico City’s hip revival over the past decade.

Mexico raises earthquake death toll to 293