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MEXICO. – At least 216 people have been killed after a powerful earthquake hit central Mexico on Tuesday, with the death toll expected to rise due to the scale of the trembler, the country’s civil protection agency said.

The magnitude-7.1 quake toppled dozens of buildings, broke gas mains and sparked fires, sending thousands of people fleeing into the streets in panic. Fatalities were reported in capital Mexico City, nearby Morelos and Puebla states, the State of Mexico, and the south-central state of Guerrero, according to the head of Mexico’s national civil protection agency, Luis Felipe Puente.

In his latest update of the number of people killed as a result of the major quake, Puente said there were 86 confirmed deaths in the Mexico City, 71 in Morelos, 43 in Puebla, 12 in Edomex and three in Guerrero. The toll is expected to climb as many people remain trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Dozens of buildings tumbled or were severely damaged in densely populated parts of Mexico City and nearby states. Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said buildings fell at more than 40 places in the capital alone.

According to the US Geological Survey, the epicentre of the quake was located 5 km from Raboso, Puebla.

Its proximity to the capital and its shallowness, just 51 km below ground, made the quake as intense as its destructive 8.2-magnitude predecessor that hit southern Mexico on Sept. 7, reportedly the strongest quake to jolt the country in a century. – Xinhua.