Two dead in magnitude 7.7 quake in Mexico

The death toll from the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in west-central Mexico rose to two on Monday, according to the Civil Protection agency in the western Mexican state of Colima.

On its official Twitter account, the agency said the victim was trapped in the Plaza (the commercial center) Punto Bahía de Colima, where a gymnasium roof had collapsed.

“At the moment, emergency personnel is working to recover the victim,” the source said.

According to the National Earthquake Service, the quake was registered on Monday around 1:05 pm local time (6:05 pm CEST).

The epicenter was 63 kilometers south of the municipality of Coalcomán in Michoacán.

The quake occurred less than an hour before the national drill held every year in the country to commemorate the devastating earthquakes of Sept. 19, 1985, and 2017, which caused deaths and property damage.

Meanwhile, a reporting module set up in the Coalcomán Municipal Esplanade received reports of about 400 damaged homes and buildings in Michoacán.

Mexico is located in a zone of high seismicity due to the interaction of five tectonic plates: the North American Plate, the Cocos Plate, the Pacific Plate, the Rivera Plate, and the Caribbean Plate.